Crossed Paths Episode One: Encounters v2
by TychoV
Summary: Set during the end of Season One, Atlantis is about to come under attack from Wraith forces. Now at the darkest hour, can a new set of players change the outcome of the game and if so, at what stakes?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Thank you to all my readers for putting up with the rewrite process as I would to improve this series of stories. Your patience and reviews are most appreciated. A special thank to my Beta-Readers. Without you, this work would be littered with lots of dumb typos and bad grammar.

Insert standard disclaimer - I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or related franchise materials. I do not own Freespace or related material. However the version of Freespace I am working from is highly AU. All GTA characters mentioned are my original creations as thus are not to used in other works without my express permission.

Read and Review. I love will thought out reviews, especially if the writer points out plot-holes or other issues with my writing.

* * *

**Crossed Paths**

**Episode One - Encounters**

_"They knew it was a fight that couldn__'__t be won… Ten thousand years earlier the Ancients had challenged the power of the Wraith and had been defeated and humbled in end__…__ Now the Atlantis Expedition faced the recently awoken darkness which consumed the Pegasus galaxy__…__ For a time the discovery of the Ancient weapons platform bolstered hopes, only to have them dashed as quickly as they had risen…"_

**City of Atlantis**

**Lantean System**

The general feeling around the Atlantis control room was one of growing tension as Doctor Rodney McKay came down the stairs from the jumper bay. While they managed to destroy one of the three approaching Wraith Hive ships using the Lantean Satellite Weapon, it simply wasn't enough. The Wraith struck back, destroying the weapons platform before it could fire again and taking the life of Peter Grodin with it. Reaching the landing, Doctor Elizabeth Weir and Major John Sheppard joined him, both of whom had just crossed the short walkway to Dr Weir's office.

"Welcome back, Rodney." Weir's cool professional tone belied any anxiety she may have felt at the rapidly deteriorating mess they faced.

McKay replied darkly. "Where are we?"

"Our scanners show the hive ships have started moving again, although their pace has slowed considerably."

"Obviously you gave them something to think about." Sheppard's glib response did little to lighten the mood.

"If they get here in two hours or two days, it doesn't change the fact that we're out of options. We can't hope to fight them. So unless either of you have any more ideas. . ." Weir's resigned tone spoke clearly of defeat.

Having come up to the control room from the debarkation area, Lieutenant Aiden Ford delivered his report, his usual youthful energy subdued by the gravity of their situation. "The last group is assembled and ready for evac."

Weir nodded in acknowledgement to the young lieutenant, then looked back to McKay and Sheppard. "All right then. Let's get this done."

Stepping over to two laptops connected to one of the control systems, Sheppard and Weir prepared to input their self-destruct codes, ensuring that Atlantis was destroyed and hopefully useless to the approaching Wraith.

"Ready?"

"Doctor Weir!" Chuck, one of the control room technicians exclaimed in alarm. "Three more signals just appeared out of hyperspace on the opposite side of the system."

"Great..." Sheppard groaned in exasperation. "They called in more of their buddies."

"Um sir... I don't think so. They are too small and the Atlantis systems aren't flagging them as Wraith." The sergeant looked thoroughly confused.

Moving over to the sensor array controls, McKay keyed in a few inputs and furrowed his brow at the results. "The database doesn't seem to be coming up with any matches. Hold on... Elizabeth, we're being hailed."

"Put it on, Rodney."

After a few hurried keystrokes, the sensor tracking image switched to that of a fit, blonde haired man in his early forties, dressed in an unfamiliar navy blue uniform. "Again this Captain Phillip Lallemant of the GTCr _Mackenzie King_ to unidentified planetary island city. Do you receive?"

* * *

**Sixteen Hours Earlier**

**Hyperspace**

**En route to the Mintaka System**

The command deck of the Galactic Terran Command Carrier_ Justice_ was in a low light mode as she travelled through hyperspace towards her planned destination. Beyond the recessed ceiling and deck lights, the majority of the illumination came from the numerous holographic interfaces and terminal screens positioned strategically around the bridge. Stretching as she rose, Rear Admiral Akane Takase began a slow and casual inspection of her bridge staff and the readouts from their stations. Not that she anticipated any problems; the entire crew was very professional and highly disciplined. Those who failed to perform to expected standards rarely lasted long and would never be allowed a posting as vital as bridge operations. No, in the three years that the _Justice_ had been hers to command, she had developed a comfortable working relationship with her staff which allowed her team to feel at ease and respected. She had just passed one of the Scanner Operators when his terminal began to flash and beep softly.

"What the hell?" The young lieutenant remarked in alarm. "Jenkins, I've got a weird energy spike on my screens. I don't recognize the signature. Do you have anything over there?"

"Yeah, the starboard array is reading something as well. My system isn't generating any comparables. I haven't got a clue."

Hearing the exchange between the two Scanner Officers, Takase moved over to Lt. Connor who had first noticed it. "Something we need to be worried about, Lieutenant?" Her voice carried a note of curiosity as well as cautiousness for the safety of not only her ship and crew, but the rest of the _Justice_'s support fleet travelling with her through hyperspace.

"I'm not sure ma'am. The reading is already beginning to fade, but the computers can't determine the source. The closest thing I can think of that might generate an energy signature even remotely like this is a hyperspatial corridor intersection. But the odds of something like that occurring are something like ten thousand to one. Beside, even if it were some weird form of intersection, it would take something truly massive to create a subspace spike that big. The thing is the only objects we are detecting are the rest of the fleet."

"Ma'am," Ensign Bates stood a few feet back, awaiting her attention. "We have been signalled by the rest of the fleet who all picked up a subspace energy spike. Commander Gray of the _Newton_ is requesting that we fall back to normal space, so that a more detailed scan can be performed to rule out any potential risk to the fleet."

Taking a moment to consider the situation, Takase frowned slightly, her well earned worry lines deepening. "Agreed. Signal the fleet to transition back to normal space and once we are able to, inform 5th Fleet Command that we may be delayed arriving on station."

Returning to her command chair, she nodded to her XO, Captain Harrison, who returned the gesture in understanding before issuing orders to make ready to jump back to normal space. As the ship transitioned, there was a stalled time sensation as the eerie green glow hyperspace faded to the blackness of space. As the lighting returned to normal operating levels, activity increased on the bridge as the crew performed post-jump operations; checking power systems, re-establishing long range communications and scans and generally confirming that everything was as it should be.

It took less than a minute for the Admiral to know that something had gone wrong. The expression of shock and confusion on the faces of helm, navigation and scanner officers said it all. When her secure com beeped a few seconds later, she braced for the news. Lightly tapping the small subdermal communications implant located behind her right ear, Takase opened the channel.

"Takase. Go"

"_Admiral, this is Commander Gray on the Newton. Ma__'__am we are not where we are supposed to be. Not by a long shot. We are triple checking right now, but none of our star-charts match anything within our detectable range. Barring a miracle… we__'__re lost._"

Lost. The word hit like a sucker punch to the gut. She had been ready for 'off course'. She was no scientist, but it seemed reasonable that a subspace surge could have shifted their heading. But lost without a clue as to where… anything… was. The very idea staggered her. True, in the two hundred years humanity had travelled the stars many ships went missing; mostly in the beginning and mostly ships doing exploration type missions. Takase never thought that it would happen under her command. Her task force's mission was fairly routine. Patrol a portion of disputed territorial border between Terran and Vasudan space, show the flag, and neutralize any threat to Galactic Terran Alliance stability in the area. And now this… Taking a moment to compose herself, Takase quickly fashioned a plan of action.

"Acknowledged, Commander. Hold for orders." Putting the com into standby, she waved Harrison over, who faced her grimly. "I want the commanding officers from all ships to shuttle over to the _Justice_ in one hour. Have them bring a copy of their scanner readings from the subspace surge as well. It's possible they may have something that could explain what happened. Have all ships conduct long range scans for any signs of civilization, advanced or otherwise. If we can find somebody with local star charts, we can compare them to ours and maybe figure out where we are. In the meantime, have all stellar cartography departments coordinate to chart the area. I want to be able to navigate as soon as possible. Finally, array the fleet for defensive standing and launch a combat air patrol. If anyone comes calling, I want them to think twice before showing hostile intent."

With a nod and a 'Yes ma'am', Harrison left to get the orders issued and oversee a number of tasks. Leaving the command deck, Takase retreated to her private office to update her logs and think. Regardless of how much she wanted to take action, to do something… anything productive… useful… she knew that all she could only wait.

The hour passed quickly and when Takase entered the conference room adjoining the command deck, the assembled captains and commanders were already waiting for her. All the faces she knew and for the most part, got along with their owners. As she moved to take her place at the head of the table, she noticed a face she hadn't expected to see.

"Colonel Winters, I wasn't aware that you have been invited to this discussion." Her voice cooled, and her normally calm demeanour clouded somewhat with disdain. She wasn't a fan of the Lt Colonel as he was attached to Special Operations Command, and wasn't really a part of her command structure. Regardless of normal procedure called for any task force to have a number of SOC and GTI agents, Takase felt their loose accountability was an undesirable factor in the fleet's organization.

"I apologize for my presumptuousness Admiral, but with all due respect, given the potential severity of our situation, I didn't feel comfortable waiting for the analysis to filter down the pipe." Winter's manner was a hair's breadth short of crossing into insubordination territory, but until that happened, Akane couldn't openly call him to task. Better something left for a private dress down.

Giving the colonel a withering look, she nodded at last and gestured for him to take a seat with the others. After Winters was seated and there were no disruptions, Takase indicated with a subtle hand gesture to Harrison to begin the briefing. The gruff, hardened veteran soldier stood up and moved to the podium.

"All right kiddies, this is where we stand." Tapping a few controls on the podium, he lowered the lights and engaged the holographic presentation system. A projection of an irregular galaxy shimmered into view, a small section in highlighted in blue and the rest in orange. "We believe we are here..." A small yellow box blipped into the centre of the blue area. "...near the edge of PGC 71538." A murmur of shock and confusion rippled across the room. "That's right folks. We are in the damn Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy or at least that's what all available stellar cartography data points to. The 'how' and the 'why' are currently unknown, but some of our scientists are bouncing around the idea that our hyperspace corridor transected an Einstein-Rosenberg bridge."

"Impossible!"

"A wormhole?"

"...never have found actual evidence that wormholes are anything more than a theoretically possibility!" The cacophony of shocked shouts and jeers washed over Takase like the outcries of angry voters at an unpopular town hall meeting.

"Stow it!" Harrison roared, and he punctuated his irritation with a meaty fist slammed on the translucent podium. "I know this is unexpected but you are all officers. Act like it damn it! You are all trained to handle the unexpected, so do it. Deal with it!" After the gathered group was sufficiently calmed, Harrison continued. "Now initial long range sensor sweeps didn't find any signs of advanced civilization, but that changed when we picked up this." Again the image on the screen changed, this time showing the hyperspace signatures of three massive ships travelling in formation. "Aside from the three main vessels, we are also picking up a number of smaller ships which we assume are support ships of some kind. Their current flight path seems to indicate that they are heading to this system." The screen switched to a star system diagram, with data scrolling beside each of the planets and moons. "As two of the planets appear to be within the habitation zone, we can assume that either of these worlds maybe the destination." A murmur of interest rippled across the assembled group, as well as smiles at this potentially good sign.

Getting up, Takase approached the podium and took over the rest of the briefing. Her face, normally a serene mask of calm professionalism, was dark and grim. "I'm afraid this first contact will not be as easy as jumping into the system and broadcasting friendlies. Just before this meeting was scheduled to begin, long range sensors detected this." The display switched to a long range mass silhouette scan of the three massive ships and their accompanying fleet which had by then dropped to normal space. Suddenly, one of the larger mass shadows lit up briefly with an energy bloom which bore a resemblance to a primary reactor breach before winking out. After less than a minute passed another second much smaller, energy bloom occurred and the mass silhouette of which sensors had defined as an artificial satellite disappeared as well.

"We believe what you have just seen to be the destruction of one of the large ships by some sort of defence platform, followed by a retaliatory strike. Whether this was intentional or an accident, we must assume the situation in this system to be one of open conflict, which will make opening any sort of dialogue potentially very dangerous. Though we do not currently detect any opposing defensive forces in the system, we can not assume it is safe to jump the fleet in. That is why I would like a small expeditionary group to recon the area and determine whether it is safe enough to open a dialogue with one or perhaps both parties involved. Were these normal circumstances, I would simply choose one of you to lead this mission, but given how little we know about our current situation, I would prefer it if it were a volunteer."

After a few seconds, Captain Lallemant stood up and nodded. "I would like to volunteer the _Mackenzie King_, Admiral." This was followed by a few more captains and commanders offering their ships.

Nodding at her commanding officers, she smiled tiredly. "Captain Lallemant, as you spoke first the mission is yours. Take the _Memphis _and the _Sydney_ for support. Jump in, perform some detailed sensor sweeps, and if you feel it is safe to do so, hail those involved. Just make sure they understand that we merely wish to negotiate assistance, and that we don't wish to interfere in their internal or external politics. Ultimately, I'll leave the matter to your discretion."

"Understood ma'am."

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**City of Atlantis**

**Lantean System**

"Again this Captain Phillip Lallemant of the _GTCr Mackenzie King_ to unidentified planetary island city. Do you receive?"

Elizabeth had not expected this. But then very little in the Pegasus galaxy was routine and predictable. Still, they could only make the most of it, assuming that this was a good sign in the first place. "We read you Captain Lallemant. My name is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, and I am the leader of the expeditionary team here on Atlantis. I'm afraid that if you were looking to open relations with us, you may have come at a bad time. This city is about to be attacked by the Wraith. But if you can offer any assistance in defending us, I'd be glad to welcome you and a small party here in the city."

The man on the other end of the video connection raised a slim blonde eyebrow at the mention of the Wraith, but remained otherwise cool and unreadable. "Doctor Weir, I am not authorized to commit to military action for or against anyone at this time, but I agree that meeting in person to discuss our separate problems would be ideal. Hopefully something mutually beneficial could be arranged."

"Elizabeth…"

Weir turned to see a concerned expression on John's face and knew that he had something to say off camera. Nodding in acknowledgement, she returned her attention to the man of the screen. "Captain Lallemant, if I could ask you for a moment's patience while I place you on hold?" The captain nodded graciously and she smiled. "Thank you." Making a small gesture off camera to Rodney, she signalled for the feed to be held. The image of Lallemant froze after a quiet double beep. Turning back to John, she nodded, already suspecting what he wanted to say.

"Do you think it's wise to invite these people to Atlantis, considering that we know nothing about them?" John frowned in displeasure at the whole situation and folded his arms across his chest.

"I understand your concerns but at this point there isn't much we can do." Inwardly, she sighed as the fatigue and strain of the past few days took its toll on her. But there was no time for that right now. Atlantis needed leadership, which her. As much as John was her friend and ally, big decisions were hers and hers alone. "At the moment, we need allies and right now, they could be those allies we need. And frankly, having one of their ships in orbit may do some good. If the Wraith are wary with about their ships in the system, they may not wish to start a potential confrontation with an unknown adversary."

Though he didn't look fully convinced, John nodded and stepped back to let her work. Weir gave him a small tired smile in thanks and then looked to Rodney. "What's the status of those ships?"

"The three new ones haven't moved from the point where they jumped in." McKay tapped a few keys and focused on the Wraith vessels. "Huh… that's unexpected. The Wraith seem to have halted their approach."

John raised a brow and smirked. "You think maybe they see our new friends as well and are spooked?"

"Could be…" Rodney mused, typing on the keyboard, as he called up more detailed scans. "As far as we know, for ten thousand years the Wraith have been the only game in town when it came to advanced technology. Having another hyperspace capable group show up right as they are about to attack Atlantis has got to have thrown them for a loop."

"Let's hope so." Weir took a moment to inhale and exhale slowly, as she put on her best game face. "Okay Rodney, resume the channel back to… what did he say the name of the ship was again?"

"The _Mackenzie King…_" McKay's mumbled distractedly. Suddenly, he snapped his head up from the computer, his face awash with a huge grin. When Elizabeth obviously didn't get it, he explained. "William Lyon Mackenzie King… he was the tenth Prime Minister of Canada. If I remember my social studies correctly, his motto was something like, 'Help those that cannot help themselves'. Elizabeth, I don't know think it's possible but my gut feeling is that they are from Earth!"

A coincidence? It had to be. Nothing else could explain it right now. Not that it mattered at the moment, but she'd keep it in mind during the talks. Nodding again to Rodney, she waited for him to reopen the channel. Again the double beep sounded and the image of Lallemant unfroze. "Thank you for your patience, Captain. I appreciate it."

"It was no trouble, Doctor Weir. I should let you know that we've attempted to communicate our non-hostile intentions to the…" He paused and furrowed his brow for a moment, thinking. "Wraith you called them? Either way they haven't responded."

"The Wraith do not seem to value diplomacy, Captain. If fact the only value they see in human life is that of a food source." The peacemaker in her hated how casting the Wraith as monsters, must have made her position seem even if they were just that. She had always believed that fear mongering was ultimately a self defeating course of action to take at the negotiating table. "While they have stopped their advance for now, I don't think it will last very long, so I suggest we move quickly in our talks. You already know that we need assistance in defending this city. What do you need, Captain?"

"Well Doctor we are new to the corner of the… galaxy, and we could use accurate star charts." The way he said galaxy, he definitely sounded ill at ease. "While we weren't planning on remaining long in this region of space, it seems that we may have to locate foodstuffs and other resources if our reserves should be strained. Perhaps even a world to act as a safe harbour where repairs can be affected."

Interesting. They had something the other one needed. This would be an ideal place from which to begin negotiations. Weir smiled pleasantly. "I think we can help each other, Captain. Atlantis's database has very detailed star charts and we could have access to trading partners who may be able to assist with your resource needs." Thinking on her feet, she gambled with her next move. "We could provide you with a sample of the data that you could verify with your own readings, but I'm afraid that transmitting the data might not be possible as our data formats may be incompatible. I recommend that your ships move into orbit and you can send down with a small envoy."

"An interesting offer, Doctor, and while I accept your hospitality, I'm afraid that if we assumed a parking orbit around your world, it may looks as if we were taking sides in your conflict. Therefore to facilitate a middle ground, we'll send an unarmed shuttle and small escort to Atlantis."

"Captain, you are at the edge of the system. It would take hours to arrive and by then the Wraith may have commenced their attack. Your team might not make it."

"Don't worry Doctor Weir. You can expect our party within fifteen minutes. Lallemant out." The channel closed and once again the screen displayed the long range sensor reading.

Fifteen minutes. He had to be sending one of the ships. His ships were relatively small compared to the Wraith ships. It seemed unlikely that they would carry any hyperspace capable auxiliary craft. Turning back to her team, Weir first looked to McKay. "Rodney, I need you to pull a wide sampling of Pegasus star charts, say six or seven systems, and load them onto one of the non-networked laptops. And I need this ready within fifteen minutes."

"I'm already on it." McKay agreed.

She didn't even have to ask, as she looked to John. He watched her, saying, "I'll go prepare to greet out guests. Do you want to meet them at landing site or have one of the security units to escort the delegates here?"

That was a good question. How they reacted to the opening moves really depended on what kind of people they were. Given the immediate threat of the Wraith and the potential value to be gained from garnering a hopefully powerful ally, she should really meet them at the landing site. However that could be taken as show of desperation and weakness. No… better to have them escorted to the conference room. The situation was bad enough without bargaining from an apparent position of weakness.

"Have them escorted here, John. We need as much home ground advantage as much as possible."

"Understood." He replied and then headed towards the exit. Pausing at the doorway, John turned back towards her with a sombre expression. "Not that I doubt your negotiation instincts, but I hope you know what you are doing."

"Honestly John," She sighed, her expression equally as serious. "So do I…"

* * *

**Onboard the **_**GTCr Mackenzie King**_

**Outer Edge of the Lantean System**

As the lift doors open onto the _Mackenzie King's _modest hangar bay, Captain Lallemant walked out, followed a few steps behind by his XO Dalen and the rest of the party accompanying them. "I understand your feeling Graines, but my orders stand. You are sitting this one out. You are the Flight Captain of our temporarily limited fighter support and therefore your first duty is to remain on hand to protect these ships if the need arises."

"Sir, you are jumping into a potentially hostile situation with only two fighters for cover. You need the best pilots you have flying this mission." Flt Captain Graines explained once again, his tone carrying a hint of irritation and frustration.

"I thought I was our best pilot." Lieutenant SG Angela Mitchell, the Flight's second in command, piped up as the group approached. Already in her flight suit, she smiled cockily at her commander. "Granted Harris isn't as good as you are sir, but with me flying lead it should balance out nicely."

Lallemant chuckled softly at her bravado and nodded approvingly. "There we are Captain. All settled. You're dismissed." While his tone was light and friendly, Phillip's eyes were set and resolved. It would not do to try to reopen the matter.

Graines nodded and saluted crisply turning about face and marching stiffly away. Dalen shook his head and sighed quietly. "Well now that that is over… Do you want us to keep the jump engines prepped for a recovery hop if things get dicey?"

"Yes, but let's try to stay positive shall we?" Phillip smirked a bit at the absurdity of what he'd just said given the incredible circumstances in which they found themselves.

"Aye sir." Dalen nodded and smirked back. "You jump in, meet the folks, make nice nice, exchange coffee cake recipes, and come on home in time for a late night Scotch and cigar. Nothing to it."

"That's the plan. Let's get to it." Phillip sighed to himself as he walked the final few metres to the waiting shuttle. Glancing back, he saw Lieutenant Mitchell lower herself into her cockpit module, or coffin as fighter pilots tended to call them. For this hop, she would be Alpha One and Lieutenant Harris would be Alpha Two when spoken to over comms channels.

Entering the interior of the craft, he took a seat near the front as his two aides sat down and strapped in nearby. The hatch sealed itself with small hiss and Phillip watched as the pilot and co-pilot finished their final pre-flight checks. The pilot turned back to address him. "We are ready for take off, sir."

"Thank Mister Woo. Take us out."

"Aye sir."

The shuttle lifted gently off from the hangar deck with a soft rumble and glided smoothly towards the reinforced bay doors which opened obediently as it approached. Phillip saw the faint blue glow of the containment shield interacting with hangar's atmosphere, and as always wondered how the hangar crews could continue to work so casually with just that thin energy veil protecting them from vacuum. Turning his eyes away from the containment shield, he caught a glimpse of one of the cockpit modules as it sank below the deck. In the launch tunnel below the hangar deck, the module would lock into the main fighter chassis to form a complete function unit; and in the event of a critical failure, it could separate for chassis and act as an escape pod.

Clearing the hangar bay, the shuttle accelerated away from the _Mackenzie King_, and then banked and took up station as they await the fighter escort to form up. They didn't wait long as the fighter glided in escort formation about twenty seconds later. Activating the comm system, the shuttle co-pilot/navigator hailed the fighters. "This is the _Nile _to Alpha. We have clearance to jump. Synchronize navigation and jump engines."

"Acknowledged,_ Nile_"

"Navigation ready. Jump system online."

"Beginning hyperspace insertion." The shuttle's engine began to cycle up, producing a faint hum and vibration through the hull. While fighters were hyperspace capable, their range was limited to intra-system jaunts and they were much slower than most other hyperspace craft. In order to arrive at the same time as her escort, the shuttle had to throttle back her engines almost to the point of stall. "Ready… ready… Jump!"

To Be Continued


	3. Chapter 3

**Low Orbit above the City of Atlantis**

**Lantean System**

Three small hyperspace surges appeared in the space above Lantea as the _GTPS Nile_ and her two fighter escorts exited from their intra-system jump. Onboard the personnel shuttle, Captain Lallemant sat in one of the six passenger seats and looked out the view port. The planet looked like a giant blue marble, much like how Earth looked in all the vids. He had never been to Earth, birthplace of the human race. For almost a century, only those attached to environment restoration teams were allowed on the surface. Between the numerous wars and heavy draining of resources leading up to the massive colonization projects, Earth had been beaten and bruised almost to the point of no recovery. Now mankind worked to help their former home along its slow recovery. Phillip wondered if this world has gone through similar growing pains before her people reached the stars. Though that begged the question: why were the people here now, without ships? He saw no orbits stations, no shipyards, not even a series of satellites.

"Captain, we've informed the city of our arrival and have provided them with our approach vector." The shuttle's navigator, Jansen, relayed their status. "Our sensors indicate two small craft launching from the surface on an intercept course. Alpha One is requesting orders, sir."

Lallemant lightly activated his subdermal communicator and addressed his fighter escort. "Alpha squad, fall back slightly and allow those approaching ships to assume their own escort if they wish to. Unless provoked, you are to stay weapons cold. Once we are down, return to low orbit and await further orders."

"Acknowledged, Command."

"Understood, sir."

"_Mackenzie_, what is the status of the Wraith fleet?"

"They have resumed their approach towards the planet, but they don't seem to be in a hurry to get there. If they detected your jump, they aren't showing any signs of concern. We will keep you up to date if anything changes, sir."

Aside from a little choppiness upon entering the atmosphere the ride was all smooth sailing. About halfway to the city, the Atlantis craft caught up and formed a loose ring around them. The design fascinated Phillip, though he wasn't sure what to make of them. Eight metres long and smaller than the Cadmus class aero-space superiority fighters he'd brought with him, the twenty metre long Rivers class personnel shuttle dwarfed them . Aside from the pods on the sides, the crafts appeared to be little more the flying cylinders with an angled front and rear. Apart from maybe ease of storage, Phillip thought the design far from ideal. While the bat shaped Cadmus was longer and far wider, it had a thin profile and excellent aerodynamic properties. These people seemed to have some strange ideas in terms of design. As they neared the city though, that sentiment changed somewhat. The snowflake shaped city with elegant towers and buildings was lovely to his eye, and the piers added both stability and created small harbours.

"Prepare for landing." After completing a single slow pass over the outer edge of the city, the pilot gently set the shuttle down on the large southern pier and powered down the engines. Getting up, Lallemant and his two aides exited the shuttle once the main ramp lowered, leaving the pilot and navigator to watch the ship. Outside, a small contingent of soldiers wearing black fatigues and carrying bullpup styled guns greeted them.

A tall man with somewhat unruly black hair stepped forward, and offered his hand. "Welcome to Atlantis. I'm Major John Sheppard. Doctor Weir asked me to escort you to the conference room."

"Thank you, Major." Taking his hand, Lallemant give it a brief yet firm shake and nodded. "I'm Captain Phillip Lallemant, and these are my aides, Yeoman Erins," he gestured to a petite brunette who looked like she had some Spanish blood in her heritage. "And on my left is Lieutenant JG Adamson," he indicated to a stocky red haired man with a goatee.

Sheppard looked a bit surprised when Lallemant introduced himself, but recovered quickly. "Nice to meet you, sir." Glancing down at the pistol holstered on each of them, the Major smiled coolly. "If I could first ask you to surrender your side arms, I'll take you to Doctor Weir."

"Of course." Lallemant used two fingers to unclip the strap securing his pistol into the holster, then slowly slipped it up and free. With a small deft move, he flipped it around, offering the grip to Sheppard. Behind him, he heard the others do the same. One of Sheppard's men stepped forward and collected the pistols.

"Thank you, sir. I'll make sure that they are returned to you when you are ready to leave. If you will all follow me, please?" Sheppard gestured toward the entrance to the nearest building with a more relaxed smiled and then walked beside Lallemant as they began to move. "Do you mind if you ask a question, sir?"

Lallemant smiled a little to himself. They were not members of the same military force, and yet Sheppard showed him the appropriate level of respect as though they shared the same chain of command. Admirable. "Go ahead, Major."

"Do command officers normally go into the field for negotiation where you come from? I would have expected you to have sent a more junior officer given the situation." It was fair question as well as a subtle probe for info on their command structure.

"Actually, you are right." Lallemant admitted casually. "Generally, Command frowns on Captains leading away assignments, but given the time sensitive nature of the situation with these Wraith about to attack you, it seemed prudent to expedite the negotiations."

"Ah." It was obvious that Sheppard wanted to ask more but clearly he thought better of it for now.

As he walked through the city, Lallemant looked around at everything around him with a critical eye. Instinct and good intelligence were key to a successful negotiation, and he needed to get a feel for things here quickly. They passed a number people moving about the city. While he didn't recognize the color coded uniform per se, something about them seemed familiar. After marching a fair distance, and using a couple of city rapid transit units of some sort, they arrived at the conference room, where they met Doctor Weir.

The first impression that Lallemant had gotten from Doctor Weir over the video connection was that of an intelligent confident leader with a pretty face. Now in person he could see that he had been correct, but she was beyond merely pretty. She was beautiful in a slightly sad, haunted way. He suspected that she carried the weigh of the world of her shoulders and didn't know how to share the burden. And she appeared to have witch's eyes… When he had spoken to her over the video channel they had looked steely grey. Now in this light, they seemed more deep blue. A man had to be careful around women with witch's eyes.

Stepping into the conference room, Sheppard nodded to Lallemant, and gestured to the tall brunette woman who stood before a three section table. "Captain, this is Dr. Elizabeth Weir." Gesturing back to Lallemant, he continued, "Elizabeth," he said, "Captain Lallemant." After making the introductions, the Major stepped back and allowed the two to proceed unhindered.

* * *

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Captain. I realize that the current situation is both awkward and potentially dangerous for you and your crew. I wish that our meeting could have been under better circumstances." The words flowed from her mouth with the practiced ease of years of experience but, inside, part of her was distracted. She hadn't been expecting him to be the one sent to negotiate and she certainly hadn't counted on him being so good looking. He seemed to be about her age with dark blonde hair and clear laugh lines around his friendly hazel eyes. Narrow of face and with a slightly hawkish nose, he had a smile that radiated an approachable charm. Overall, she suspected that he was the irascible sort given to friendly mischief while managing to maintain a modicum of professionalism.

"I would have liked that very much." Lallemant replied warmly, those hazel eyes making her heart flutter.

Elizabeth quickly glanced to the side, breaking eye contact and forced herself not to blush. No, she wouldn't lose focus. She was just over tired, that's all. His flirting was most likely just a negotiation tactic. Even if it wasn't, she shouldn't be enjoying it as much as she did. She was with Simon, millions of light-years apart not withstanding. Schooling her face back to a safe neutral state, she met his gaze once more, this time guarded against his charms. "I think it would be best if we proceed directly to outlaying our respective needs."

"That seems…"

The Captain was suddenly cut off by a call over the intercom. "Doctor Weir, report to the Control room immediately!"

Elizabeth's heart raced in fear as she left the conference room and hurried over to where Rodney awaited anxiously. Had they ran out of time? Had the Wraith accelerated their attack plans? As a dozen worst case scenarios roared through her mind, she barely noticed that Lallemant followed her. "What's happening?"

"An incoming wormhole just connected." Rodney explained quickly. "Now receiving IDC. I don't believe this…" Rodney muttered in shock. "It's the SGC."

Chuck looked at his own readings and nodded sharply. "Confirmed."

"Quickly, lower the shield!" She ordered at hearing the news. Earth was dialling in, and that hopefully meant good news.

"Doctor Weir, I don't understand. What's going on?" Lallemant frowned in confusion, clearly not knowing what was happening.

Instead of answering, Elizabeth indicated down to where the Gate shimmered with a stable connection. After a moment a steady flow of marines and several large crates came through the event horizon and spread out to make room for those who followed. Glancing at the Captain, she saw a look of amazed wonderment plastered on his face. She suspected that his expression was very much like the one she had had when she first saw the Stargate in use. Unless she read him incorrectly, it seemed that he came from somewhere that Stargates and gate travel hadn't been discovered.

"That's amazing. What is it?" Lallemant asked in a soft almost reverent tone.

"It's an artificial wormhole generated between two superconducting ring shaped devices made from a quartz-like material called naquadah." Rodney eagerly explained in a rush of words. "Once activated the wormhole allows for what seems to be instantaneous travel between extremely distance points in space. Interestingly, the actual travel time varies from 0.3 to 6.7 seconds and…"

"Now isn't the time, McKay!" John added. Though she knew he would have been paged as well, she hadn't noticed him since her conversation with Captain Lallemant had begun.

Elizabeth headed down the stairs, where a tall greying marine with a cocksure smile greeted her.

"Doctor Weir" The man's greeting was nothing if not confident. It was practically smug.

"Yes"

"Colonel Dillon Everett, United States Marine Corps."

"Colonel, how did.."

Everett casually bulldozed right over her, cutting her off mid-sentence. "General O'Neill sends his compliments on a job well done under extraordinary circumstances." Saluting her somewhat offhandedly, he continued. "You are relieved."

The words assaulted her like a sudden slap to the face, and she stood there, stunned, as John and Captain Lallemant strode down the stairs behind her. Upon seeing John, Everett's smug smile faded into something cold and judging. But the sight of Captain Lallemant in his unfamiliar uniform seemed to unnerve the man, a confused expression betraying his features.

"Captain Phillip Lallemant, GTA Fleet Command."

Everett coolly ignored Lallemant for the moment and turned his attention to John. "I'm going to assume that there is a damned good reason for a foreign military presence to be on this base, and I better be hearing it double time, Major."

"Colonel Everett." Weir interjected firmly. "Captain Lallemant came here as our guest, under my authority. We are currently in talks with regards to assistance with the Wraith situation." She glanced at the Captain to gauge his reaction to the entire situation, but, unfortunately, the man wore a cool neutral poker face.

"I am fully aware of the situation regarding the Wraith, Doctor." Everett replied in a mildly condescending tone. "In fact the Wraith are why me and my men are here. Now if you will escort this gentleman out of the way, I have a lot to accomplish and precious little time to…"

Seeing that tact and diplomacy were not the Colonel's strong suits, Weir took a page from his own book and she did the cutting off this time, her expression and tone clearly frustrated. "Hold on a second, Colonel! I don't think you fully grasp our situation here."

Everett clearly didn't like being cut off anymore that she did as his response was brisk and utterly tactless. "You have three Wraith hive ships bearing down on your position and precious little to defend yourselves with. That about sum it up?"

"Actually" Lallemant interrupted in a casual, matter of fact tone. "If the larger vessels are these Hive ships, then our sensor scans make it one two. With, I believe, nine support ships in tow."

Whether it was the fact that Lallemant had better intelligence the he did or that he just was speaking in something that Everett didn't consider any of his business, causes the Colonel to snort in contempt. "I suppose we have you to thank for that?"

"No" Lallemant shook his head. "That happened before we arrived in system."

"We were able to reactivate of the Ancient Weapon Satellites at the edge of the system to destroy the Hive. Unfortunately it was destroyed in the Wraith counter-attack." Elizabeth attempted to steer the conversation back into her control; hoping the news of the destruction of one of the Hive ships would buy her some leverage in a situation she could feel slipping rapidly out of her control.

"Good for you! That should make my job a little bit easier." Everett stated almost mockingly.

Whatever veneer of calm Lallemant had been holding onto evaporated and he scowled that the Colonel. "Just what the hell kind of officer are you, Everett?"

"The kind who's just assumed command of this facility, Captain." Staring daggers at Lallemant, Everett reached into this pocket and took out a folded set of orders, offering it offhandedly to Weir. "Signed by General O'Neill." Elizabeth took the papers, but she was obviously none too happy about it.

Having seen that Weir was removed from overall command of the situation, Sheppard attempted to reason with his new commanding officer. "Colonel, it's not that we don't appreciate the thought. But if you had read the report on the armada that's headed this way, you'd know that there's not much we can do about it."

"Oh, I've read your report cover to cover, Major." There was an obvious belligerence in Everett's attitude towards Sheppard.

Between the offhand dismissal of Everett and the looming male pissing contest, Weir had had enough diplomacy and decided to take the bull by the horns. "Alright Colonel, you have command of Atlantis's military defence. However, unless you have orders to remove me from overall command, then diplomatic issues remain in my purview. Therefore, I am going resume my talks with Captain Lallemant, while you and Major Sheppard discuss the defence of the city."

"Since I assume you are hoping to entice the good Captain to assist with the defences, that makes this matter a jointly a military and diplomatic concern. I will be sitting in on the meeting." He retorted gruffly.

"When the Captain and I reach that point, I'll be sure to have you paged." Weir stated firmly. When Everett opened his mouth to argue, she cut him off sharply. "Dismissed Colonel."

Everett stood there, stock still, his mouth agap in shock. Clearly he hadn't expected to be dressed down by her, and certainly not in front of his men and the Control room personnel. After a moment, shut his mouth with a small audible click and snapped off a quick salute before stalking away. John and Lallemant exchanged grins; John's small and carefully restrained, and Lallemant's huge and clearly amused.

As John turned and followed Everett away from the Gate, Lallemant softly chuckled. "Well… note to self. Remember to stay on your good side."

Elizabeth immediately blushed crimson and exhaled quickly. "I'm sorry you had to witness that."

"Nonsense." He smiled warmly. "I'd call that a well learned lesson in how not to treat woman, least of all you." Gesturing back up the stairs, he inclined his head in a small bow. "So, shall we go continue that conversation we were having?"

To Be Continued.


	4. Chapter 4

**Expedition Leader's Office**

**City of Atlantis**

With Colonel Everett briefing Major Sheppard and his team on the plan to defend Atlantis in the conference room, Lallemant followed Doctor Weir to her office to continue their talks. Looking around, he found her office light and airy, her décor of ethnic pieces thought provoking. It only added to the questions forming in his mind. "I like your office, Doctor Weir. It reminds me oddly of a few museums I've been to back home."

"Oh?" The statement seemed to confuse her to a degree. "In what way, Captain?"

"Your wall art… it looks very much like old anthropological artefacts from Earth." He explained slowly, gesturing to the masks on her walls while carefully watching her reaction. "But then a lot of things on this base seem to be connected to old Earth. Like the flags the soldiers here had on their shoulders. Those are old Earth nation state emblems aren't they? Just how did humanity get all the way to the Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy?"

The way he had phrased the questions caused one her slim brunette eyebrows to rise. "We came here via the Stargate, but somehow I'm guessing that's not very helpful. Perhaps I could better answer you if I knew more about you and your people. You twice said 'old Earth.' Is there a new Earth I should be aware of?"

"New Earth?" He replied in stunned confusion. "No, of course not. The idea of naming a planet New Earth is insulting and disrespectful. Just because we've left the nest doesn't mean we've abandoned her and moved on." Frowning at the twisted path this conversation had taken, he sighed and refocused. "Answer me this please… to your knowledge, what is the date?"

She didn't answer back right away. Instead, Weir took a moment to study him first. "March 25th, 2005"

2005. A wave of numbness washed over his body as the very thought of it. Time travel. Einstein predicted that wormholes could move temporally as well as spatially, but that had just been theory till now. To realize that it had actually happened to the fleet made his insides clench and a chill run down his spine. "Not good… very not good."

"Captain?" Her voice held notes of wariness and worry. "What year should it be for you?"

Fighting down the bile that threatened to move up his throat, Lallemant clenched his teeth for a moment and took a cleansing breath. "According to my calendar," he spoke slowly; quietly, "the year is 2374."

His reply caused Weir to pale visibly and tighten her grip on the arm rests of her chair. After staring at him in silent shock for a few seconds, she reached up and tapped her radio ear-piece. "Rodney, I need you in my office immediately."

It only took Doctor McKay a few seconds to cross the foot bridge and enter her office. "What's the matter? What happened?" While the man didn't look quite frantic, he certainly had no issues shooting Lallemant an accusatory look.

"Rodney, I remember reading one of the SGC mission records about the Stargate sending one of the SG teams back in time." She explained quickly. "Could something like that happen to space vessel?"

McKay didn't even bother to pause to consider the question before answering. "Impossible. Time travel involving the Gate requires a solar flare to occur at the exact moment the Gate's matter stream passes a star." He explained with animated hand gestures demonstrating. "The energy from the flare causes the traveller to bounce back to the point of origin while propelling them through time. The bigger the flare, the greater the temporal displacement. For a ship to time travel, it would need to be travelling through the Gate and, to our knowledge, only Jumpers can do that."

"What about the time machine that the Ancient Janus created?"

McKay waved the question off in distain. "One off exception. Even that was a prototype."

"Doctor McKay, it seems that there is another exception to your theory." Lallemant stated morosely.

"Rodney, Captain Lallemant just told me that he comes from the late twenty-fourth century."

"What? No" He shook his head in disbelief. "I just said that it was impossible. He's lying."

"Excuse me?" Lallemant snapped, jumping up from his seat; his composure already strained well past the reasonable limits. "Listen, Doctor. Less than twenty four hours ago, my people and I were back in the Milky Way on a routine patrol mission. During our transit through hyperspace, we detected an unknown energy surge of immense power. When we dropped back to normal space, we found ourselves here! In this galaxy! In this time! I don't give a damn if you think it's impossible, because the fact that we are here clearly proves you wrong!"

"But, but…" McKay floundered, trying to recover from the verbal attack. "…no. It still can't work. Yes, hyperspace and gate travel both use subspace, but they function on completely difference layers. Even an exploding star wouldn't have affected you while in hyperspace."

"Our scientists think that we somehow intersected a natural wormhole while in hyperspace. That it shunted here in before we unknowingly escaped back into normal hyperspace."

"That's… that's…" Furrowing his brow, McKay's eyes flicked back and forth as he considered what was said. "Oh man, you are so screwed!"

Watching the exchange in concern, Weir asked the question at was plaguing Lallemant's mind. "Is there any way of getting them back, Rodney?"

McKay seemed unsure of himself and took some time before answering. "Honestly, Elizabeth, I don't know. As much as we have learned from studying the Stargate, there is so much about wormhole technology we don't understand. We assume that the Ancients would have studied natural wormhole phenomena before developing the Stargates. That implies that research would be stored somewhere in the city's Ancient database. Maybe in time we could find a solution."

Weir looked at Lallemant, and he immediately knew what she was thinking. He sighed softly before voicing their shared thoughts. "And in order to have the time to study this database, we need to ensure that the city survives…"

"I know that you don't want to get drawn into a fight that is not your own, but sometimes the fates are cruel." Weir stated with a soft sadness. "Our peoples need each other, Captain. Help us defend Atlantis, and I swear we will help you find a way home."

* * *

A knock came on the doorframe before the Captain could answer, and Elizabeth turned to see Colonel Everett standing at the office threshold, his hands clasped behind his back. As soon as her head turned in his direction, Everett spoke up.

"Well, Doctor, we've begun implementing our defensive plans." Everett stated definitively. "You will make me a very happy man if you tell me that the good Captain here is willing to assist us."

"Doctor Weir, Colonel Everett," Lallemant sighed and bowed his head slightly, "given what you've told me, I think that there is reason to consider assisting with defence of the city, but I do not have the authorization to make that final decision." Looking up, he directed his gaze to Elizabeth. "Therefore I would like to contact my superior and, if the Admiral agrees, you will get the support of not just three capital ships, but an entire fleet."

"Wait a second. There are more of you?" Everett looked shocked.

"How many more ships could we except?" Weir sounded cautiously hopeful.

"The _Mackenzie King_, the _Sydney_ and the _Memphis_ are only the ships assigned to make contact with you. We are only a small part of the 5th Fleet Task Force that was… lost. Assuming the Admiral marshalled all the ships in the defensive effort, there would be twenty one capital ships, plus dozens of fighter squadrons and support craft."

Weir and Everett looked utterly gob smacked at the sheer number of ships that might become available to them. Weir regained her composure first and smiled slightly. "Unless the Colonel has any objections, I see no reason to delay you making that call." Everett, still at a loss for words, shook his head.

"Excellent. Can you have me escorted back to my shuttle, or do you have a secure private long range communication system I can use?" It seemed the balance of power had shifted back to him. Everett turned and signalled one of his soldiers to escort Lallemant and his aides back to their shuttle.

"Twenty one ships, plus fighters" Everett whistled happily. "I think those Wraith are about to have an unpleasant turn of luck!" His chest puffed out in confidence and pride, and Elizabeth wondered if Everett somehow believed that these ships would be his to use as he chose in his battle plans.

"That's assuming that their Admiral agrees with Captain Lallemant's assessment." She cautioned warily. "Even then this is likely to be a fragile alliance. We aren't out of the woods yet."

* * *

Once aboard the _Nile_, he opened a channel to the _Mackenzie King_, and had them relay the signal to via the long distance communications array to the _Justice._ "Captain Lallemant to Admiral Takase."

"Takase, go"

"Admiral we have begun negotiations with residents of the artificial island city Atlantis. Their leadership has requested military aide in defending themselves from an aggressor they call the Wraith. In exchange, they claim to have not only detailed star charts and access to useful resources, but extensive practical research data on wormhole phenomena."

The admiral's face frowned on the display. "Captain, this is not something we can enter into lightly. How real is this Wraith threat? Do you believe they actually have the technology they claim to?"

"As to the Wraith threat, I can't say that much, but initial sensor scans of the city have shown little in the way of defensive technology. As we were approaching, we detected evidence that they were preparing for an attack, but the weapon systems appear to be short ranged projectiles. The odd thing is, that scans have indicated the city itself to be very advanced, which leads me to believe that these people are not the original inhabitants. I have reason to believe that they are travelled here via some sort of wormhole technology from Earth."

"Earth? How is that-" The communication channel was interrupted as Lallemant's executive officer cut in.

"Sir, I'm sorry to cut into your conversation but we are detecting a number of asteroids on a collision course with the planet. We believe that the Wraith are using them as some sort of pre-emptive strike. I recommend that you-" The signal cut out with high pitched squeak and then static.

"Jack? Jack? _Mackenzie King_, do you read?" Worried, he switched to an auxiliary channel. "Hello? Hello? Do you read? Alpha? _Sydney_, do you read? _Memphis_, do you read?" He heard nothing but static.

"Sir, I'm reading a massive spike in EM energy somewhere just beyond the planet along the Wraith's approach course. The signature is consistent with one or more high yield thermo-nuclear detonations." Jansen explained while going over the readings.

"Any sign of Alpha?"

"Impossible to say, sir. The radiation is overloading the sensors and playing havoc with communications. We will need to wait for it to dissipate before we can try again."

"If we achieved orbit, could we jump back to the_ Mackenzie_?"

"The radiation wouldn't affect our hyperdrive engines, but we'd navigating blind in all that radiation. I wouldn't recommend it, sir."

"All right." So much for not being here when the real shooting starts. "Keep trying communications. Contacting Alpha is priority. Once you get through, tell them that they are to provide close air support for this city until ordered otherwise. I'm going back into Atlantis. When you get through to _Mackenzie King_, patch me through. I'll have orders for them." Well, that was that. The fighting would begin soon, and he and his men were going to be right in it. Hopefully, the Admiral would bring the cavalry soon, but if not he guessed he would soon see just what these Wraith could do.

**Onboard the **_**GTCr Mackenzie King**_

**Outer Edge of the Lantean System**

"Captain? Captain! Damnit, _Nile _are you reading me?" Commander Jack Dalen tapped the controls on the command chair repeatedly in growing concern and frustration, trying to re-establish the comlink. "Schmitt, what happened to the communication link?"

Ensign Schmitt worked quickly to cycle through available comm frequencies in an effort to restore the connection to the _Nile._ "I'm sorry, sir. There is suddenly a field of unusually heavy EM inference in the area the planet. We've can't seem to punch through it."

"Sonofabitch!" Dalen growled and sprung up from his chair. Pacing back and forth briefly, he stared down at the deck and exhaled harshly in frustration. Coming to a stop, he pivoted toward helm control and frowned. "Helm, prepare to jump to Atlantis planetary orbit. Comms, get me a channel to the _Sydney_ and _Memphis_, conference mode."

"Sir, our sensors are detecting a highly intense field of ionizing radiation blanketing an area of high orbit above the city. It looks thermonuclear in origin. Given the levels we are currently reading, I'd recommend we jump in at a point beyond the planet's orbit path and then approach on sublight engines. That should minimize the field's ability to blind our sensors."

"Understood. Helm, make the necessary plot adjustments to avoid the field of jump exit." Dalen barked firmly.

"Sir, I have Commanders Parrish and Kerem standing by on channel three when you are ready." Ensign Schmitt advised tentatively. "And, sir… Admiral Takase is still holding on channel one."

Jack winced and groaned. He had forgotten that the Admiral had been speaking to the Captain before he was forced to cut in with the warning about the asteroids. "Thank you, Ensign. Please ask the Commanders to continue holding for now." Taking the command chair uneasily, he schooled his face to control his emotions, and then touched the holographic control to reopen the channel to the Admiral. Takase's stern face appeared on the monitor, and Dalen nodded in greeting. "Admiral… I apologizing for keeping you waiting but a new situation has developed. We have lost contact with Captain Lallemant and the diplomatic team as the result of what appeared to be thermonuclear denotation just beyond the planet's atmosphere."

Takase frowned, her normally serene features now displaying her concern. "Is that the result of an attack, Commander?"

"Unknown at the moment, ma'am. Our readings still put the Wraith fleet several hours away from the planet, and, given the fact that they are approaching at sublight speeds, it seems unlikely that they suddenly jumped an attack craft to the location." Dalen explained cautiously, in an effort to consider what he said before he spoke. "We did read a number of asteroids which had been accelerated towards the city by the Wraith. That was original reason I interrupted your conversation with Captain Lallemant. Initially we assumed they were for a pre-emptive strike, but now it seems more like that it was a mine clearing effort."

"Why didn't we detect these mines prior to their detonation, Commander?"

Dalen took a moment to consider his response. "Ma'am, they may have been in a low energy state at the point. That, coupled with our distance, the amount of inert debris in orbit and the position of planet relative to them, providing a partial mask would likely have contributed to us missing them. If you wish, I could have a copy of our sensor logs transmitted to the _Justice _for review."

Takase shook her head and waved away the suggestion without much thought. "No Commander that will not be necessary."

"We are preparing to jump to the planet for rescue and recovery of the Captain and his team. If the Admiral is satisfied, I'd like to get this operation underway."

"You do realize, Commander Dalen, that jumping the _King_ to that planet may exacerbate an already potentially volatile situation. If these Wraith were able to detect these mines, they will almost definitely detect your arrival."

"Yes ma'am," Dalen nodded solemnly, "but unless you order me not to recover the mission team, this ship and her crew will do what it takes to recover her captain."

Takase steepled her slender fingers and took a moment to think, her eyes seeming to measure and weight both the situation and the Commander. "Commander, these are your orders. You will take the _Mackenzie King _and her assigned escort to rescue and/or recovery Lallemant and his team as needed. If possible, the Captain is to resume his negotiations until he is recalled or relieved. If any of your ships or Atlantis comes under attack while negotiation remain ongoing, you are authorized to defend you and Atlantis with as much force as you feel is necessary to deter further aggression. You are not; however, to actively engage the Wraith under engaged yourself. Am I clear, Commander?"

"Yes, ma'am. Understood." Dalen smiled with relief.

"When you can, Jack, please advise Phillip that I will expect a full report upon my arrival. That should be in approximately two hours. Takase, out." The monitor winked off as the channel closed.

Grinning to himself, Dalen swivelled in his chair to Ensign Schmitt. "Ensign, it's time I spoke to my fellow Commanders. I have orders to distribute."

To Be Continued


	5. Chapter 5

**Expedition Leader'****s Office - City of Atlantis**

**Lantean System**

"Now that your ships are not in contact with you, how do you think they will respond?" Doctor Weir asked carefully, knowing that what happened in the next few hours could make or break any hopes for an alliance. She knew from her own command experience over this last year that patience and worry seemed to go hand in hand with being in charge. Was it wrong that she hoped that concern for their missing officer out weighed the patience to sit and wait for the communication interference to clear?

"If I know Jack, he will be in favour of mounting a quick retrieval operation. Get in, pick me up and get out." Lallemant seemed to be watching her, reading her as he explained. Years of negotiation experience had taught her to keep her thoughts and emotions from her face, but inside she worried. "Of course, he might have a hard time convincing the other commanders to go along with him. And the Admiral may just order him to hold station and wait."

"Do you think that your Admiral would do that?" Elizabeth probed diplomatically. She found it hard to keep her voice even and her face neutral. Oh, sure, she had been at a disadvantage during negotiations before; a few times with some very high stakes. But it had never been so personal. The lives on the line had never included so many of her friends, her loved ones, before. "What kind of man is the Admiral, if you don't mind my asking your opinion?"

"She… Rear Admiral Akane Takase is a woman." Lallemant corrected with a small amused smile. "The Admiral is smart… I'd almost go so far as say brilliant when it comes to reading a situation. She's sharp and savvy and knows how to speak to people. I've seen her as tough as nails in a firefight, and I've seen her soft and gentle and genuinely caring when speaking to the family of a fallen soldier. Honestly, she's often hard to read. I don't think any of us know her beyond what she chooses to project, but we all trust and respect her. There have been times I don't fully agree with her orders, but when it comes to the big decisions, you always know she would do the right thing for the right reasons."

Elizabeth nodded at his description and heard the sincerely in his voice. From what he said, Admiral Takase sounded formidable; the kind of person who would be invaluable as an ally but deadly as an enemy. Hopefully she would never need to find out about the latter. "Your admiral sound like a remarkable woman. I hope I get the chance to meet her."

"I think that she would like you, Doctor Weir. I know I certainly do" Lallemant smiled warmly as he casually flirted.

Again she felt her cheeks heat in a blush and she broke eye contact. Why was it that he affected her so much? True, he was handsome, charming and even exotic, but it was more than that. Was she lonelier that she wanted to admit? A small part of her regretted leaving Simon behind to come on this grand adventure. If she had stayed behind, she suspected that Simon would have proposed to her by now. Was that what she had run away from? Was Captain Lallemant a distraction from Simon and the future? If they survived the coming battle… if the _Daedalus _arrived to deliver the ZPM as promised, she could go home. Home to Simon? Home to stay? Or would it just be back on a visit?

"Tell me about your home, Captain" Elizabeth found herself saying. Quickly she turned it into a more general inquiry. "What are things like where and when you come from? What has humanity accomplished?"

Taking a moment to think, the Captain tapped his index finger to his lower lip. "You know that's not exactly the sort of question one can easily answer. We all naturally take so much for granted that it's hard to put an answer into words." Furrowing his brow for a bit, he sighed. "I supposed the single biggest achievement of my time was the creation of the GTA." He paused for a moment, getting a small rueful smile. "Sorry, I keep forgetting that you wouldn't know what that means. That stands for the Galactic Terran Alliance. It's is an alliance of human colony worlds for the purpose of mutual defence, enforcement of laws and the continued security of trade and expansion. When it was founded in 2149, it initially consisted of Earth and her colonies and outposts with the Solar system. Overly time we expanded that number at a control sustainable rate. Today, the GTA covers over thirty systems, some of which having multiple habitable centers."

"That impressive. Is this Alliance the primary governing body?" She asked curiosity genuinely peaked.

"Yes and no. It's more of a…"

Lallemant paused in mid-sentence with a brief look of surprise and quickly moved to press his fingertip to the base of his skull just behind his right ear. "Lallemant, go." Though Elizabeth was unable to hear the other side of the conversation, the good captain obviously could and his expression became focused and serious. "Do what you can to clean up the signal, Jansen. You can patch him through when you are ready."

_Patch him through_. Did that mean that one of his ships had arrived to retrieve him? And, if so, was there anything she could do to get him to stay? The idea of detaining him popped into her head for a moment, but she dismissed it as quickly as it came. Holding one of their officers captive would hardly endear them to this GTA. Getting up, she walked around the table and moved a bit closer to Lallemant.

"Orders received and acknowledged." Lallemant resumed listening to the conversation, and, this time, he frown deeply, the fine lines on his brow deepening. "Damnit! How long do we have?" Elizabeth mirrored Lallemant's concerned expression, and her mind raced to puzzle together what they could be talking about. Was an attack imminent or were they on the clock to evacuate the system? "Alright Jack, launch the fighters and position the _Sydney_ and the _Memphis_ in orbit along their flight path. Hang the _King_ back and keep her out of the fire unless she's needed. Keep me apprised. Lallemant out"

"What happened?" Elizabeth managed to keep the edge of fear out of her voice, but her stomach twisted into knots.

"My ship and her escort have arrived and they have moved into orbit. However, before they entered the radiation field, they detected about one hundred strike craft approaching the city. They are about thirty minutes out at their current speed." Lallemant explained, his tone concerned but calm. "We should prepare for battle." He stated seriously as he moved to leave the conference room.

Elizabeth moved to follow him, activated her radio as she went. "Weir to Everett."

"_This is Everett. Go ahead, Doctor.__"_

"You'd better get up to the Control Room. We have Darts inbound."

"_I__'__m on my way_."

**Conference Room - City of Atlantis**

**Lantean System**

"Let me see if I understand you correctly, Captain. You have three capital ships in orbit. You have launched your fighters for air cover of your ships and this city. You are just going to wait for those Darts to get here, instead of engaging them before they can threaten the city?" To Lallemant ears, Colonel Everett's tone sounded both angry and confused. And considering the situation, had he been in the man's shoes, he would have been just as angry and maybe even more confused.

"I'm sorry Colonel, but the orders relayed to me were quite clear. While I am allowed to defend this facility-and will do so wholeheartedly-I am not allowed to initiate or provoke an attack from the Wraith. My ship will not fire unless fired upon or unless this city is endangered."

"Captain, I understand the reasoning behind these kinds of orders, but I assure you that neither posturing nor attempts at diplomacy with prevent this attack from occurring." Doctor Weir offered diplomatically "The Wraith want this city, and they will not stop till they have it."

"And you need to understand that we can't just attack an unknown people who have never threatened us. We have rules of engagement and first contact protocols for a reason. I'm sorry." Phillip explained firmly. How different might things with the Vasudans have gone if command has be less eager for war. The Terran-Vasudan War had raged out for nearly fourteen years before both sides were so battered down from the constant fighting that there was finally a willingness to seriously approach the peace table.

"What about the asteroid attack? That has to be at least some proof of aggression!" Everett growled in frustration.

"Clearing a minefield is hardly an act of war, Colonel. You know that as well as I. And if you want to talk about signs of aggression, the fact that you mined the space in the first place doesn't exactly shine well on you." He retorted bluntly, his growing distaste for the Colonel slipping the leash a bit.

"Gentlemen, please!" Weir stepped in between the two and held up her hand as though ready to keep them at bay physically.

"You're right, Doctor Weir. I'm sorry." Phillip sighed and stepped back a bit. "Look, if these Wraith are as hostile as you say they are, they won't take kindly to the two frigates positioned right along their attack vector. The moment one of them opens fire, they will be targeted by and torn to pieces by the frigates high speed turrets. Any Darts that get by will be hunted down by the _Mackenzie__'__s_ fighters."

"It's a good plan." Everett snorted a bit and conceded that it could work with a reluctant nod. "Will your frigates last long if the Darts swarm them?"

"The Memphis and Sydney are both of the new Hephaestus class. They were specifically designed as anti-fighter escort ships. Barring the Wraith having unusually powerful fighter based weaponry, they should be able to hold up against a fair pounding. And before I forget…" Moving over to one of control room officers, Phillip waved his right hand over his lower left arm, activating his mini-comp implant and causing a light blue hologram to appear about an inch above the navy blue sleeve. Moving his fingertips across the virtual inputs, he made the secure frequency for the support fighters appear so that they could see it. "This is comm channel for the fighter cover. I'd recommend you give it to your jumper pilots so they can co-ordinate their efforts."

"Captain, I know you are already doing a lot, but do you think some of your people could be on hand to assist with damage control and medical assistance?" Weir asked softly. She was a lovely woman, and he could see himself becoming quite taken with her.

"A good idea Doctor Weir, but I don't think we have the time to get them down here before the attack begins. I will have a few details organized for deployment after the fighting is over."

"Thank you, Captain."

**Above the City of Atlantis**

**Lantea System**

Lazily moving the controls of her Cadmus Aero-Space Superiority fighter, Lieutenant SG Angela Mitchell performed a wide looping turn as she circled the island city along her designated patrol pattern. The waiting was the worse part. They knew the enemy was coming, they knew that they would arrive soon, and, worst of all, they weren't allowed to meet them head on. Nope… they had to wait till the enemy attacked. It was frustrating.

Touching her comm controls, Mitchell opened a link for the one of the other fighters. "Alpha One to Beta One."

"_I read you Alpha One. Go ahead.__"_

"Sir, my scopes still read clear. Do you have anything yet?"

"_Negative Alpha. Just be patient. We both know that there is still enough lingering EM in the atmosphere to limit our scanning range. Command will signal us when we can attack.__"_

"Sir, with due respect to Command, this is bullshit. We should be splashing their guys before they know what hits 'em." Mitchell snipped.

"_Can it, Alpha. Till you get promoted to Vice Marshall, you keep your opinions on the Admiral__'__s orders to yourself, understood?__"_

An incoming comm override from the _Mackenzie King _cut off her response._"__All fighters! All fighters. We have been engaged by Wraith fighters. Alpha, remain on the deck and cover Atlantis. Beta, you are authorized to clear the roof and engage the enemy up here! Good hunting, people!__"_

"Aww ,man!" Mitchell turned hard and moved closed to the city. Glancing at her scope, she noted the eight friendlies which made up Beta accelerating back up toward space. As she passed over the outer edge of the city, the buildings went dark and flares were launched into the air. Toggling her comms to squad mode, Mitchell barked her orders. "Okay guy, form with your wingmen and keep an eye on our friends in the Jumpers. Those guys don't have shields and they have limited ammo. Play nice and keep them alive. And for gawds sake, stay out of the firing situation those AA gunners. Remember we are fighting in atmo, so our shields protection will be less than optimum. Stray railgun fire could very well pierce our protection."

"_Yes ma__'__am__"_

"_Acknowledged._

Her scopes beeped as a number of targets the IFF flagged hostile red appeared. "Looks like a bunch got past our forward lines. Let's take em out!" Selecting the next enemy fighter, she vectored targets the ship on her HUD and accelerated towards it.

"_Ugly son-a-bitches aren'__t they?__"_

As the Darts closed on Atlantis, streams of glowing white railfire lit up the night. Closing on her target, Mitchell realized that the Dart was lining up on one of the Jumpers. Glancing at her threat management data, she quickly identified its target. "Jumper Three, you're got one on your tail! Break right on my signal, and I'll cover you. Ready… ready… break now!" As the Jumper banked hard to starboard, Mitchell allowed the Dart to slide into her gun sight as he attempted to follow his intended prey. She squeezed the trigger, and four Subach HL-7 cannons riddled the Dart with purple bolts of deadly energy. It took barely two seconds of cannon fire, and the Dart exploded in a satisfying fireball.

"_Nice shot Alpha One. They sure look pretty when they explode don'__t they?__"_

"Stow it, Alpha Two. Focus on the job at hand, and remember to watch out for incoming friendly fire."

"_Jumper One, you got a two, __ten o__'__clock high heading for the deck.__"_

"_I don'__t see __'__em__…__ Wait__…__ got em. Lining the first one up.__"_

"_Alpha Six, are you reading any shields on these guys?"_

"_Negative, but they pack a mean punch. My shields are down to forty six percent. Alpha One, do we use secondaries? I can get aspect lock, but it'__s too tight in between these buildings to loose missiles.__"_

"Acknowledged. Stick with primaries unless your target is moving away from the city. The Captain will kill us if we blow up one of these pretty buildings." As the Dart that Mitchell hunted swerved out over the ocean in an attempt to get more room to manoeuvre, she suddenly got the desired lock-on tone. "It's so not your day, pal." Acting quickly, her thumb flipped up the safety cover and pressed the luminous red button underneath. Immediately a Harpoon missile leapt from its launcher and rapidly closed the gap on the Dart, leaving a contrail behind it. The Dart pilot attempted to jink out of the missile's path but just couldn't react fast enough, and the warhead detonated on impact, destroying its target.

A new voice cut in over the radio. _"Colonel, it's Ratner!_

"_Go ahead"_

"_It looks like some of them are starting to make kamikaze runs!" _The voice on the other end shouted over the cacophony of weapons fire.

Captain Lallemant's voice came on the line a moment later. _"Jansen, the main tower has lost its primary systems. Can you relay sensor data for us?"_

Glancing at her scope as she flew back to the city, Mitchell noted an enemy fighter diving toward the South Pier.

"_One sec, sir, I–__"_

Horror struck, watched the shuttle explode after the Dart flew right into it. "Captain, one of those bastards just rammed the fucking shuttle. There's nothing but wreckage left!"

It took a moment before the Captain responded. _"Acknowledged. Prioritize any Dart that looks to be going kamikaze."_

Despite the superior fighters, despite the frigate thinning the herd, despite the best efforts of GTA and Atlantis defenders, the Wraith still wreaked havoc. Soon they would start wearing the fighter's shields down and pick them off as well. "Sirs, this is starting to look bad!"

"_Acknowledged pilot. Hang in there.__"_

The voice the Atlantis colonel came back on the line. _"__Major Sheppard, our defences are beginning to fall behind. We no longer have a choice. Use the Chair.__"_

"_Acknowledged.__"_

Chasing the next available target, Mitchell noticed a number of small, glowing orange shapes zipping through the air, tracking, hunting and destroying the last of the Darts. As the last of Darts was neutralized, Mitchell looked out at the city, at the flames and destruction the Wraith has wrought. And she knew…. this was only the beginning…

To Be Continued…


	6. Chapter 6

**South Pier**

**City of Atlantis**

**Lantean System**

Standing on the West Pier, Elizabeth waited next to Captain Lallemant as she watched numerous shuttles descended from his ships in orbit. As good as his word, the Captain dispatched personnel to assist with normalizing operations following the battle. In addition to the medical and engineering teams, he brought a small contingent of soldiers to boost the city's beleaguered defences. The commanding officers of the two frigates surprised them by arriving on one of the last shuttles. Lallemant nevertheless took the turn of events in stride and warmly introduced his fellow commanding officers to her.

"Doctor Weir, this is Commander Isaac Parrish of the GTFg Sydney." He gestured to a tall muscular man of African descent, who shook her hand warmly. "And this is Commander Hadara Kerem of the GTFg Memphis." She was a beautiful, slim woman of obvious Middle Eastern heritage, though her beauty was somewhat marred by her cold aloof demeanour.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you, and I'd like to thank you again for your assistance in repelling the Wraith attack." Elizabeth offered sincerely. "I hope that neither of your ships suffered significant damage."

Parrish shook his head and grinned. "I don't know about the Memphis, but my ship and crew are just fine. Frankly, that attack may have done some good. A good portion of my more experience crew had been rotated out during the last round of performance evals. A bit of real combat is just what is needed to get the greener members to gel into the team."

Kerem raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and looked at her colleague as though he was an odd bug. "I'm sure that there are less dangerous ways to acclimate your new personnel, Parrish." Turning back to Elizabeth, the woman offered her a small, cordial yet obviously cool smile. "The Memphis suffered only minor damage Doctor. Thank you for asking."

Elizabeth nodded, slowly assessing these two new pieces in the diplomatic game. "Actually, if you forgive my limited military knowledge, there is something I'm somewhat confused about. I was under the impression that naval tradition required that all command officers of fleet ships be captains."

"Frigates, like corvettes, are considered lower priority capital vessels in the command hierarchy and so are rarely assigned a captain to command them. Most captains consider he command of a frigate to be the sign of a dead end career," Kerem stated bluntly.

"Oh, I see." Elizabeth didn't know how to respond to that. This woman was difficult to read, and she didn't want to risk insulting her new allies.

"Personally, I have no desire to leave the Sydney, even if I get promoted. A bigger ship just means bigger headaches in my books." Parrish grinned and chuckled a little. "No offence intended, Captain."

"None taken, Isaac."

"Captain, you should know that our latest sensor scans indicate that these Wraith have accelerated their approach. They obviously detected our arrival in orbit and it seems logical to assume that we've forced them to step up their plans given their previously cautious approach. As the ranking officer until the Admiral arrives, your place is on the bridge of your cruiser. I recommend you take my shuttle since yours was lost in the attack. One of your aides can stay behind to act as liaison officer with the fleet." Commander Kerem's manner said her requests and suggestions were orders to be obeyed.

Lallemant raised a blonde brow and regarded his colleague quietly. This may have been an effective skill when commanding a war ship but in Elizabeth's world of politics and diplomacy, it was certainly less effective.

"How long until they get here?" Weir asked hurriedly.

"Assuming no change in course and speed, they should achieve orbit in approximately six hours. Obviously they lack the navigational accuracy to attempt the relatively short hyperspace jump to high orbit." Kerem's lack of concern about the upcoming battle made her sound like she read yesterday's grocery list.

Lallemant frowned and nodded to himself. "Normally I would agree with you, Hadara, but my orders from the Admiral require me to remain here until relieved. Commander Dalen will need to oversee things on the _King_ until I can get back. Now that communications are restored, I can coordinate things from down here."

Commander Kerem pursed her lips like she had bitten into a very sour crab apple but nodded her consent with a small sigh. "Understood, sir."

Parrish smirked a little at his colleague's nonplussed expression as he looked at Elizabeth. "I suppose we should be getting back to our ships. I know my XO gets cranky if I leave her watching the kids alone for too long. You have a mighty pretty looking city here, Doctor Weir. Maybe when all this hoopla is over with, I could convince you to give me a tour of the place."

Captain Lallemant chuckled at Parrish's less than subtle flirtations, and Elizabeth admitted that the Commander possessed a certain rugged charm. Though he wasn't her type, she enjoyed the flirting after such a long time. "A tour is definitely possible, Commander Parrish. It's the least we can do for our new friends."

Kerem rolled her eyes a bit and shook her head. "Come along, Isaac. We have ships to run and I'm sure that Doctor Weir has work of her own to do." Turning to Lallemant, she offered him a cool deferral nod. "Captain." She then pivoted on her heel and strode purposefully into her waiting shuttle. After a moment, Parrish followed her. Elizabeth and Lallemant stepped back a few paces as the shuttle gently lifted off with a muted rumble.

"Don't mind Hadara. Her interpersonal skills may need a bit of polishing but she is one hell of a competent officer. She just takes a bit of getting used to," he explained casually over the sound of the engines.

Elizabeth noted that Commander Parrish wasn't the only charming one. In fact, she preferred Lallemant's understated confidence and disarming smile. "That sounds like a certain Head of Sciences I know. You don't need to worry. After working with Rodney McKay, one learns to forgive a lot of social ineptitudes."

He smiled with amused understanding, his face crinkling a little with laugh lines around his hazel eyes. "Well then…" Turning towards the city, he gestured for them to go. "Shall we get back to it then?"

"Yes, of course Captain." Elizabeth nodded and suppressed a yawn. "Sorry."

"No need, Doctor Weir. I suspect that your day has been at least as long as mine. I doubt anyone will hold a little yawn against you." He smiled softly. "And you can call me

Phillip if you like."

Smiling brightly, she nodded. "Elizabeth." She offered, presenting her hand once again in friendly reintroduction.

* * *

**Onboard the **_**GTCr Mackenzie King**_

Sitting on the compact sofa in Captain Lallemant's office, Commander Dalen reviewed the damage report from the short battle against the Wraith Darts. From where she was positioned during the attack, the _Mackenzie King _came out of the fight barely touched. The few hits she had taken had not even strained the hull armour. The escorting frigates had taken more damage as they had been directly in the Darts' path, but fared well. The fighter screen was in worse shape. One fighter destroyed and three needing serious repair work. Luckily, the pilot ejected his control module before his plane was destroyed.

Dalen rubbed his closed eyelids in a vain effort to stimulate a little life back into his tired eyes. Technically his duty shift ended two hours ago, but one doesn't hand the reigns to the second officer during a time of crisis. There would be time enough for sleep in the grave. Shaking away a hastily clamped off yawn, he stood and stretched slowly, savoring the mild discomfort it caused. Carrying the report back to Lallemant's desk, he eyed the empty coffee cup he had left there not ten minutes ago. Would the temporary recharge of another cup be worth the irritability and trips to the head it would cost? No, he sighed, probably not. The ship's doctor was already on his case to cut down his addiction, and he did try… sometimes.

He was still debating another cup when his comm. implant buzzed. Activated it with a soft tap, he stifled another small yawn. "Dalen; go."

"_Commander, Captain Lallemant is holding on you. Vid-link is available if you wish,__ sir."_

Unconsciously nodding to the voice on the other end of the line, he straightened his uniform a bit. "Put him through to the terminal in here."

Dalen touched a small control on the desk, causing a portion of the desktop to tilt upwards to a more comfortable viewing angle. Once locked into position, it glowed for a moment before the incoming visual signal from Atlantis came through. On the other end of the signal, Captain Lallemant looked his usual casual confident self but, to the eyes of his XO and good friend, there was something else. Something new.

"_Jack."_ Lallemant nodded in greeting.

"It's good to see you again, Sir. You have us worried for a while there." Dalen admitted with a bit of a frown.

"_I know, I know. My place is on the bridge during a crisis, not off playing cowboy__ diplomat."_ The Captain raised his hands in mock surrender, a wisp of a grin playing across his lips. _"Neither Picard, nor Kirk am I."_

"Well I'm glad that we agree there, sir." Dalen chuckled in reply. The reference to that old fictional culture phenomenon from back in the twentieth never ceased to amuse him. Those old ideas out how the future would turn out were nothing if not quaint.

"_So what's our SITREP? How did my ship fare?"_

"No battle damage sir, but that reactor control module is acting up again. Engineering is convinced that we received a faulty component during our last maintenance lay over." Dalen explained with a bit of a sigh. As much as things had improved, some things stayed the same. Whether by human error or just bad luck, if something could go wrong, it generally would. "Donaldson lost his fighter, and we have three more needing rebuild; estimated repair time is in the area of thirty hours."

Lallemant frowned at the news. _"Were any of the pilots seriously injured?"_ When Dalen shook his head, he got back a bit of smile. _"Good to hear."_ After a moment he continued. "_The loss of four fighters cuts sharply into our onboard reserve planes. Thankfully once__ the Justice is one station, she'll take the majority of the CAP duty off our hands."_

"The _Justice_ and the rest of the fleet should arrive within thirty minutes. After the Admiral debriefs you, you'll be back where you belong, and I can go grab some sleep." Dalen grumped for effect, arms folding across his chest.

"_True, though to be honest I kind of like it down here. Nice fresh sea air, beautiful city,__ interesting people."_ He smiled mysteriously and then shrugged.

"Sounds nice, sir." Dalen smirked, knowing that his friend had something else on his mind. "I can't wait to read your after-mission report. Care to share any highlights with your XO, sir? Off the record of course, given that you haven't debriefed the Admiral yet."

Lallemant raised a brow and smirked back, before shaking his head with a bemused smile. _"Jack, this place is amazing. In so many ways, it's completely beyond us. There is a device called a Stargate which allows for a means of almost instantaneously teleporting people and things across inter-stellar distances."_

Dalen blinked in surprise. Was he kidding? He knew that Phillip could casually joking with a completely straight face but this didn't seem his style. He was serious. "That's… amazing." His mind boggled at what something like could mean for a people. Trade, defence, exploration… the uses would be nearly limitless. "And these people who want our help developed this?"

"_That's the thing, Jack. They didn't. The creators of the technology have been gone from__ part of space for something like ten thousand years."_ Lallemant explained quickly. _"The people here now are from Earth."_

"What? They are one of the restoration teams?" Dalen replied incredulously. "How is that even possible, Phillip?"

"_They aren't from our Earth. This isn't our universe. It isn't even our own time."_

Absolutely stunned by the Captain's words, Dalen just stood there, speechless. Impossible! His mind scrambled to make some measure of sense of all this. Time travel… universe jumping… It was too much to take in.

"_Jack, do you remember studying Chaotic Inflation theory from back in your Academy __Days, specifically how it relates to Hubble's Law?"_

"I remember that I generally came out of those classes with a migraine." Dalen mumbled and then reluctantly nodded.

"_Infinite Hubble volumes beyond our cosmological horizon… and because there are an __infinite number there will eventually be Hubble volumes with similar, or even identical in __configuration to our own."_ Lallemant quoted carefully. _"If we really did cross paths with __a wormhole, then who's to say just how far across the Multiverse it took us…"_

Dalen collapsed back into the chair behind the desk and exhaled slowly. The implications were staggering… "So what we do now?"

"_Jack, the people who built this city were thousands, maybe even millions of years ahead__ of us. They apparently developed and mastered wormhole technology. And they left behind an entire database in this city's mainframe. This place is our best hope for getting home."_ Lallemant stated definitely. _"We protect it for all that we are worth!"_

Nodding slowly, Dalen stood again and grimaced. Barring the Admiral deciding on a different course of action, it seemed that the fate of the fleet was now tied to that of this place. This city of Atlantis… It would appear that in this case, hope actually did float…

"What are your orders, sir?"

To Be Continued.


	7. Chapter 7

**Onboard the **_**GTCC Justice**_

**Lantea System**

Standing in his modest cabin, Lt Colonel Marc Winters adjusted his sleek midnight blue body armour one final time before heading out. He felt the ship drop out of hyperspace as he approached one of the numerous elevator banks on this deck. Waiting for the car to arrive, Marc considered the orders and intel he had received thus far. The island city of Atlantis had fought off an enemy attack with the assistance of the GTA ships sent in advance. Somehow during the attack, an unknown number of hostile forces managed to get into the city. And now, in a show of goodwill and cooperation, the Admiral sent a contingent of ground troops to assist with containing and neutralizing the invaders.

The elevator doors hissed open, and Marc stepped into the somewhat crowded car. He ended up next to Colonel Ryan, the fleet's ranking Marine commander. "Mr Winters, I assume you are heading to the armoury as well?" The man's gravelly voice sounded like he gargled with battery acid. The colonel and marines behind him all wore the standard beige body armour with white and grey camouflage markings.

"That's right Colonel." Marc sighed, exhaling slowly. Though Marc and the Colonel had few dealings in the past, he saw the older man didn't appreciate his assignment to this task. "I figured that shooting hostile forces would be easier with a gun."

One of the marines behind him chuckled and then coughed to cover the laugh. Colonel Ryan just snorted his scorn. "Lift, resume."

A short elevator ride took them to the deck just above the main hangar where they finished getting the rest of their gear. Aside from the standard MP-16 MASER pistols, the marines equipped themselves with GR-70 Gauss rifles, and concussive grenades. Instead of the rifle, Marc selected a GC-64 Gauss carbine due to its smaller size and effectiveness in close in fights. Once properly equipped, the assigned team quickly jogged down a short flight of stairs and across the huge hangar bay to board one of the waiting Osprey drop ships.

Marc quickly secured his gear and strapped himself into his seat. Across from him, Ryan closed his eyes and looked ready to take a cat nap. Shaking his head, Marc smirked at the ease in which the veteran colonel prepared for the drop into a potentially hot zone. Personally, he hated drop ships. Travelling in a craft designed to plummet to the ground from orbit unnerved him. No matter how controlled the plummet, it still dove as quickly as possible toward the ground before pulling up a few hundred meters above the surface.

The drop ship lifted off with a faint rumble and slipped out of the hangar before heading for the planet. Another aspect about these things bugged him. No windows. Not even in the cockpit. Holographic mapping and sensor guidance was used to pilot the ship. Admittedly, the lack of view ports allowed for a stronger hull so that the ship could enter the atmosphere at a more aggressive vector. Still, Marc's conditioned pilot instincts screamed against relying totally on non-visual guidance.

As the craft entered the atmosphere, the hull shook roughly from turbulence. The lights in the cabin turned red, reflecting off Colonel Ryan's bald scalp like a bad sunburn. Marc gripped the harness strapping him down tightly as the craft plunged downward. The feeling of weightlessness washed over his senses as Marc looked around the cabin at the marines. Most looked comfortable and focused as they had done this many times. A few, he noted, looked a bit pale and he automatically pegged them as combat novices. Hopefully that inexperience wouldn't get them killed.

The falling sensation came to a wrenching halt as the drop ship's braking thrusters fired and the nose pitched back up into a level flying position. Just before landing, the harnesses locking them down released as the cabin lighting turned green. New recruit or not, every man quickly got out of the safety harness and readied their gear. Immediately after the landing struts touched down, the rear hatch lowered itself down with the loud hiss of depressurization. The men filed out in quick orderly fashion; each Fireteam of four spreading out away from the ship a few metres to avoid bunching. Marc and Colonel Ryan exited last, as a second drop ship landed nearby.

As the two colonels walked clear of the drop ship, a young marine from the _Mackenzie King_ jogged up and saluted. "Sirs, if you and your men will follow me. I have orders to lead you to Atlantis's military commander."

"Lead on, Corporal," Ryan ordered.

As they walked through the city, Marc took in the architecture and overall design. It was a beautiful city. Clean lines without any superfluous clutter. With no roads and no obvious distinctions between businesses and living spaces, it looked more like art than an actual city. Nothing indicated that people lived here day to day. It felt too planned and not broken in; not used like cities normally felt. The people here seemed to work here, not live here. Uniforms appeared everywhere.

Turning a corner, he noticed a small group of people not wearing uniforms. In fact what they wore seemed almost archaic. Leathers and what looked to be home-spun fabrics; so unlike the fashions from back home. Sure, the occasional minimalist group attempted to limit their reliance on technology but, as a rule, they were rare and on the more isolated colonies. The presence of these people didn't seem to fit with the intel he had received earlier.

The doors to their destination slid open, and they walked into a large open area with a peculiar large metallic-looking ring at the end of a slightly raised platform. Ahead of them, a group of individuals in the archaic garb gathered behind a rather striking auburn-haired woman who wore the Atlantian uniform. She spoke to a burly middle aged man in grey camo garb as they approached. "…is quite a large city, Colonel. You need as many people searching as possible."

"She is the one who sensed the Wraith's presence in the first place." A tall man with unruly brown hair added.

"Captain, get some weapons for these people." The Atlantian colonel ordered, before giving the woman a small nod.

Striding purposefully up onto the platform, Ryan made his presence known "I hope we aren't too late for the party." Smiling coolly, the GTA colonel casually assumed a Parade Rest stance before continuing. "I'm guessing you are Colonel Everett. I'm Colonel James Ryan, GTA Marine Corp." He offered Everett a rock solid handshake.

Stepping up after Ryan, Marc stood a half pace back and to the left. "Lieutenant Colonel Marc Winters," he said with a small nod.

"Colonels." The one with the unruly hair nodded respectfully.

"I take it that your fleet has arrived then, Colonel." Everett stated briskly, as he shook Ryan's hand.

Ryan nodded and smiled confidently. "That it has, Colonel. We have already begun deploying the fleet for maximum defensive effect. As we speak I'm sure that Captain Lallamant is advising your Doctor Weir that she should join the Admiral up on the _Justice_ to finalize negotiations. In the meantime, I have been asked to assist you in any way necessary. And you don't need to worry, Everett. I am under orders to defer to you. This is your rodeo, and I'm just here to keep you on your horse."

Everett nodded approvingly and took Ryan aside to bring him up to speed.

"Major John Sheppard." The man with unruly hair offered a handshake and lopsided smile.

"Good to meet you, Sheppard." Marc shook the hand firmly but made sure it was short enough to avoid being taken as a dominance challenge.

"I am Teyla Emmagan. We are thankful that your people will be helping us protect the City of the Ancestors, Colonel." She offered a small friendly smile.

"You don't need to call me Colonel, Ms Emmagan. I think we have enough brass in the room as is. It's Marc." He smiled warmly and cocked his head towards the Major. "That goes for you too, Sheppard."

"Very well Marc. And you may call me Teyla." She offered him another small smile. "Shall we get organized to coordinate the Wraith hunt?"

"Sounds fun." Marc grinned playfully and gestures towards the two colonels.

* * *

**Above the planet**

The flight up to the GTA fleet went smoothly. Though not very long, it gave Elizabeth some much needed time to formulate the best way to put forth some requests. It also gave her a chance to see the technological advancement of these people. From her seat just behind the cockpit, she watched the pilot and navigator. The shuttle used a combination of softly glowing holographic displays, touch sensitive screens and panels, and a pair of ergonomically shaped cyclic. In spite of the darkly tinted cockpit window, the pilot worked with a highly detailed HUD.

"Doctor Weir, we are clearing the upper atmosphere now. If you wish to look out your window, you should be getting a good view of the fleet in a few seconds."

"Thank you" She replied, and looked out the small reinforced transparent view port. The last wisps of clouds melted away and the sky was quickly fading from blue to black. It took her a moment to find them, but as the shuttle drew nearer the distant forms of the ships began to take shape. The first thing she made out was a pair of long red ochre coloured ships. It was difficult to estimate size and distance in space, but as they flew past one of them named _GTBc Khrushchev_, she estimated that they were about seven hundred metres long, and two hundred metres high and wide. The fronts of the ships were rounded in a way that reminded Elizabeth of the head of a sperm whale. It even had two large round white 'eyes' on the front, then there was a third on the top, forming a squashed triangle. Blisters holding turrets, antennae, and other things she couldn't identify punctuated the soft curves of the ship. Towards the rear third, the shape narrowed slightly before expanding again into a more angular set of engines.

Past the first two ships, a number of smaller ships circled a much larger one in the center. The smaller ships she assumed were frigates given she could make out the names _GTFg Sydney, GTFg Cairo,_ and_ GTFg London. _They were just over two hundred metres in length, about forty metres wide and maybe fifty high. A smoky grey color, they were much more angular that the first ships she had seen and lacked the large round 'eyes', though also punctuated with a number of turrets, antennae and things. Finally the shuttle cleared the frigate perimeter and she saw what appeared to be their destination.

The _GTCC Justice_ was huge. At her best guess, Elizabeth put it at over two kilometres long, maybe a kilometre wide and just as tall. It was an olive brown colour and seeming a collection of huge engines, thick wing-like extensions, massive vanes and huge turrets. If nothing else, it should impress the Wraith. As the shuttle slowed, the pilot radioed ahead for landing clearance. It was as the shuttle was vectoring into its appropriate approach path that Weir finally noticed all the fighters zooming between the larger vessels in small groups of four. Compared to the huge warships, they seemed tiny, but she had seen how effective they were against the darts and was frankly glad they were there.

The shuttle landed gently in one of the larger hangar bays, and the co-pilot politely guided Weir down the ramp. The hangar bay was a controlled mess of flight crews and technicians, shouting over the noise of machinery and hurried preparations. It was like being in the middle of a scene from Star Wars.A honey haired ensign led her to an elevator which blocked out the noise of the hangar deck as soon as the doors shut and quickly took them up a few floors. The ensign led her through a maze of spotless gun metal grey hallways, a second elevator and onto the command deck. Showing her into the conference room off the main bridge, the ensign left Elizabeth to wait in the softly lit room for a few minutes.

A petite Asian woman in her mid forties dressed in a severe looking navy coloured uniform entered the room, followed by a younger man carrying a small tray of refreshments. "I apologize for keeping you waiting, Doctor Weir. I'm afraid that there is always one more thing to do, and sometimes that one more thing refuses to wait." The woman smiled softly and offered her hand. "My name is Rear Admiral Akane Takase. It's a pleasure to meet you at last." The Admiral was a striking woman with hazel brown eyes and high cheekbones, her shoulder length black hair currently done up in an intricate reverse French braid.

"There is no need to apologize, Admiral. I'm just glad we are getting this chance to meet before the Wraith attack. On behalf of everyone on Atlantis, I'd like to thank you for agreeing to assist us. I'm not sure if we could have made it without you."

"Well to be honest Doctor Weir, we haven't really done anything yet." The Admiral was assessing her, attempting to determine her character. Elizabeth understood. A lot of negotiations came down to the ability to read people. "Could you provide me with me more background on the nature of your conflict with the Wraith? Why are they attacking you?"

"I'll do my best. This all dates back over ten thousand years to when an highly advanced race we call the Ancients arrived in this galaxy. These Ancients were originally from our home galaxy," she gestured back and forth between the two of them. "But we believe that they left it to escape a great plague. According to a recorded message we found in the city, the Ancients found this galaxy to be devoid of intelligent life and so, as they had done in our galaxy, began creating a network of Stargates and seeding life upon hundreds of worlds."

"Captain Lallemant mentioned something of this Stargate technology to me earlier, though I'll admit to not really understanding it. Would you be able to elaborate on what a Stargate is?" The Admiral, who had listened to the story thus far with patient interest, now looked confused.

"Oh, well the Stargate is device the Ancients invented which allows for near instantaneous travel between two worlds. Each location has a gate and when the gate is activated, it creates an artificial, stable wormhole through subspace between the two. I'm not an expert but once this is over, I'll have one of my science teams go over it for you in as much detail as you wish."

When the Admiral nodded in agreement, Weir continued. "We believe that on one of the worlds the Ancients seeded, there was already a creature we call the Iratus Bug. This creature feeds on its host's life energy and we believe that they also began absorbing the host's genetic material as well. Now whether it was due to the seeding process or due to some as yet unknown property of the Iratus Bug, some of these creatures rapidly evolved a humanoid form which had both the sentience and learning capabilities of humans and life energy feeding and rapid healing capabilities of the Iratus. Unfortunately, the Ancients were often careless with their advanced technology and the Wraith used elements of that technology to create a number of fleets, like the one approaching Atlantis. With these fleets, they moved from planet to planet culling worlds. Basically they enter dormant periods where they allow a planet's human population to build up, then awaken and harvest the human crop, leaving just enough to start repopulating again."

Throughout the explanation the Admiral had been silent, her expression a cool serene poker face. "So the Wraith are here to cull a few hundred people?" She sounded a little unconvinced.

"Not exactly. You see when we first arrived here from the Milky Way, the Wraith were asleep, with only a few scouts and protectors active. A group of my people were captured by one of these protectors and were interrogated. Through them, the Wraith managed to learn about Earth and the thousands of human rich planets in our galaxy. They want Atlantis because it will be their means of getting to Earth." Weir admitted.

"Why? What's in the city? One of these Stargates? I thought they were scattered all over the galaxy?"

"They are but they can't connect to Earth. You need to know the correct address to dial and only the Atlantis gate can dial inter-galactically in the first place. That and Atlantis is more than just a city. It was the home of the Ancients as well as the means by which they reached the Pegasus galaxy in the first place."

"It's a ship…" The Admiral's expression told Elizabeth that she took everything in and carefully decided how to proceed. After a minute or so of silence, Takase nodded. "Alright, we will protect you but there are some conditions."

This is where things could get very painful if the Admiral decided to play hardball. "I was expecting as much. What do you need?"

"We want equal access to the city and whatever databases there are. I want our teams to work together; scientific, medical, military, the whole nine yards. Our sensors scans seem to indicate that you are having power supply issues in the city. I will authorize my engineers to build a number of fusion generators that will be sufficient to bring the city to full power. You are floating on an ocean, so making enough deuterium won't be problem. Finally, we will need territory on the main land. We were not meant to be out of contact of our supply lines for extended periods, so we will need land to clear for crops and other facilities." Takase rattled off the list of needs, watching Weir's face for signs of how she would react.

As Takase spoke, Elizabeth ran through several scenarios as to how the IOA would react to this. Some things like access to the mainland wouldn't be a problem. The Athosians only used a small portion so there should be more than enough to share. Access to the Ancient database and joint military teams would be harder to sell. "What about access to your technologies beyond the generators? I'm sure we could learn a lot from you."

Takase frowned a little. "I'm willing to consider access to most things, but no weapons technology. For that, I would need to speak your global government."

"We don't have a united Earth government. The Atlantis expedition was a joint venture between the cooperating states that know about the Stargate." Weir explained, already foreseeing how Takase would react.

"Wait, what?" The Admiral's poker face collapsed suddenly. "You not only explore your galaxy, but others as well, and only certain countries know about the Stargate? This is something that will change the way humanity sees itself and will bring about so many changes."

"Our leaders are worried that the changes you speak of will be negative and dangerous. My humanity isn't ready for this. We didn't get here on our own like yours did. And as much as I agree with you that it should one day be all revealed, right now is not that time."

Frowning deeper, Takase reached over to the refreshments tray and poured two cups of tea, using a very old set of Japanese cups. "These were my grandmother's. She claimed that they were passed down from when my family once lived on Earth. She used to tell me that humanity has managed to survive because it has found the delicate balance between rushing towards the future and clinging to the past." She sipped her green tea a moment and sighed softly. "I remember my history, Doctor Weir. If your Earth is anything like mine was, it is a world where very few people look beyond the immediate gains and consider the view of the future. My world had to nearly hit rock bottom before humanity started to work together to climb out of the hole it had dug for itself. The fact that you are playing out in other people's houses before cleaning up your own, scares me a little."

Weir sipped her own tea and nodded. "Believe me, Admiral, it scares me as well."

"Well Elizabeth…" Takase smiled again. "Let's see if we can survive today, and we'll let tomorrow come when it's good and ready. And please, from now on call me, Akane."

"Agreed, Akane." She raised her cup in a small toast gesture and nodded. "To surviving for today."

To Be Continued…


	8. Chapter 8

**City of Atlantis**

**Lantean System**

Moving cautiously through the city, Telya and her assigned squad searched for the Wraith invaders as swiftly as she dared. Initially, she was to work with just three other Athosian volunteers; however, she received a pleasant surprise as they left the Control Room. The young GTA Lieutenant Colonel joined them as well. She was unsure of what to think of the man. He was certainly handsome. Tall, lithe of form, with blue black hair and eyes of green jade, he moved with a fluid deadly grace. At times he seemed much like Major Sheppard, all witty quips and playful smiles. But then she would catch glimpses when he wasn't looking and he seemed cold and detached, much like Colonel Sumner had been. It was more than just warrior's focus. It unnerved her.

Approaching a corner, Teyla signalled a halt. With a nod to Maaros, one of her people, she ordered him to cross the hallway while the rest covered him. As he stepped out, a white arm, belonging to a Wraith warrior, grabbed him. Teyla and her team immediately sprang into action, rounding the corner to rescue their comrade. The Wraith held her man against his heavily muscled form, using him as a shield while firing at the team with a stunner in its left hand. Other Wraith fired as the squad as well from cover further down the hallway. Despite the warrior's great size, Teyla knew there wasn't enough of the enemy exposed to risk using her P90 rifle. Instead, she fired at the other Wraith who were attempting to pick off the rest of her team.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Winters charge the Wraith warrior holding Maaros. The Wraith fired its stunner at him but the colonel managed to jink out of the shot's path. Ducking under the Wraith's left arm, Winters moved past him and then pivoted violently on the ball of his left foot and spun around. As he did so, metal briefly flashed as Winters struck the Wraith across the back of the neck just below the skull. Almost immediately, the Wraith warrior's grip on Maaros slacked and then a moment later it collapsed.

The Athosians had not been idle during the rescue and cut down the other Wraith in short order. Once certain that the immediate danger had past, Teyla moved to check on Maaros. "Are you well?" She asked with concern.

"Yes, yes. It didn't have a chance to feed on me." Maaros exclaimed in relief. Looking back up to Winters, Maaros grinned in appreciation. "I owe you a great debt, Colonel Winters. Thank you!"

"Don't worry about it." Winters remarked calmly, his attention more on the Wraith than on Maaros or the others. Teyla noted that he economically cleaned the small sleek dagger he had used before quickly slipping it back into the sheath at the small of his back.

"You have my thanks as well Colonel. It is good to know one of such skill fights at our side." She stated as diplomatically as possible. The way he handled the knife bothered her. While skill with a blade was common and valued, most warriors would have stabbed their enemy in the back. To have cut the Wraith's spine with such speed and accuracy showed a degree of training that only professional killers acquired.

Their radios crackled to life suddenly. "_This is Everett. The Wraith just took out one of our generators._"

"We must hurry!" Telya exclaimed. After Maaros recovered the P90 he had dropped in the struggle, they ran in the direction of the next power substation.

"_Teyla?_" Sheppard's voice came on the line.

"We are already on our way, Major!" Teyla replied hurriedly.

"_Meet you there._"

Approaching the substation, a large number of Wraith drones and one of their commanders attacked them. Her squad took cover and immediately opened fire. Slightly ahead of her and to her right, Winters fired with his GTA weapon. The gauss gun fired single shots but with incredible firepower and accuracy, instead of the P90's hail of bullets. It sounded like a miniature thunder crack every time he fired, and it knocked its target back a few metres and nearly torn them in two.

Just as they whittled down the Wraith in front of them, a second group approached from the rear. A stun blast hit one of her men and took him down. Swinging around to fire on the new group of attackers, Teyla quickly saw that her squad now lacked effective cover. Luckily the Ancestors smiled upon them as Sheppard and Ford arrived to flank the Wraith. Surprised and outmanoeuvred the last of the Wraith quickly fell, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

With the firefight over, Sheppard and Ford hurried over to her and Winters. The major looked around at all the damage. "Well that should be the last of them!"

* * *

**City of Atlantis – McKay's Lab**

Sitting awkwardly at his desk with his head resting against the cool metal surface, Rodney chewed mechanically at the sandwich someone had brought him and wished that this day was over. Exhausted beyond words, only several cups of coffee and a mild stimulant from Beckett kept him going. Right now, he only wanted to crawl into his bed and sleep for about a year, but, as usual, too many things ensured that only Rodney McKay could save the day.

Things were going better than he had hoped. Repairs to the city progressed smoothly if slower than he would have liked. The GTA engineers had proven to be less incompetent that he expected. They learned fast, worked quickly and didn't fight him on every decision like the science teams here did. If the learning curve wasn't a factor, he would petition Elizabeth to see about keeping them around full time and maybe firing some of the more useless members of his science teams. That would teach them to start pulling their weight. Converting the Chair to interface with the Jumpers had gone well, and this crazy plan might just work, assuming Zelenka hadn't messed up things up on his end.

"Rodney."

Sitting up quickly, he fought off a momentary head rush and looked over to the doorway where Elizabeth stood awaiting his attention. Behind her, four very serious looking GTA marines carried two very special reinforced crates, two per crate. "Great, you got them. Good! Bring them here." Hopping up from his seat, Rodney couldn't wait to look over the GTA tech.

"Yes, Rodney. Negotiations went smoothly. Thank you for asking." Elizabeth mocked, rolling her eyes.

"Good, good. Never had a doubt." Walking over to the nearest Marine, Rodney stepped over to open the crate, when the man blocked his way, one hand on his sidearm.

"Please step back, sir." The order was polite but firm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell is this?" Tired brain not firing as well as it should, he failed to notice the hand on the sidearm or the much larger size of the marine. "How am I supposed to prep the bombs if you jarheads won't let me look at them?"

"Sorry, Rodney. It was part of the deal we made," Elizabeth explained, touching the Marine's arm. The solemn faced soldier nodded to her and then stepped back. "These men are trained in working with these kinds of devices. They will ready and prime the warheads just prior to us launching the Jumpers."

Rodney felt like a child who was not allowed to play with a brand new toy. "So they are willing to help us, but they won't give us access to their technology? It's the Tollan all over again."

"Admiral Takase didn't want to give us their weapons technology at all. It took a lot but I managed to convince them that we wouldn't examine the bombs and that if they didn't end up being used that they would be returned without delay."

"Just what kind of bombs did they loan us?" Rodney asked slowly, his curiosity peaked.

"Something they called a Helios warhead." Elizabeth explained. "Apparently there are normally used as part of a guided missile platform, but they stripped them down to just the warhead and a programmable triggering device. From what I understood from the explanation their technicians gave me, the destructive power of one of these warheads far exceeds that of our Naquahdah enhanced warheads. The power of the matter/antimatter reaction is measured into the gigaton range."

"Anti-matter technology." Stunned, he ran some very rough mental numbers. "Okay… _now_ I'm impressed."

* * *

**City of Atlantis - North-East Pier**

Standing outside the waiting shuttle, Colonel Winters shook hands with Major Sheppard. Marc had to admit he liked the Major. John was one of those people who just naturally put you at ease. "These IFF codes and communication frequencies will be very helpful. Please pass our thanks to Doctor Weir and Colonel Everett, John. With any luck, we'll get more chances to work together in the future."

Releasing his grasp, Sheppard nodded. "Look forward to it. You could see about me getting some flight time in your birds. I'm kind of hoping to add your fighters to my 'Have flown' list, if possible."

"I'll see what I can do." Winters chuckled and nodded. "Assuming this little alliance of ours lasts, I'll do what I can to get you put into our training rotation."

Sheppard grinned back. "I'll hold you to it Colonel."

Getting aboard the shuttle, he took his seat as the craft lifted gently off from the pier. Looking out the porthole, Marc smiled at the sight of the city. "Nice place. I wonder how much a one bedroom plus den with a view goes for?"

* * *

**City of Atlantis - Expedition Leader's Office**

The Control room was scene of controlled chaos as everyone prepared for the Wraith's imminent arrival. From what Kate had heard, the two Hives and their escorts would arrive in under half an hour. The tension everywhere had wound up to an all time high, and her trained eye saw minute signs that some were about to crack. Of course, she also felt the sickening cold of fear in her belly, but, unlike the others, she knew her actions would not make or break the day. Walking into Weir's office, she saw the same signs of stress that she'd seen in the control room. "Dr. Weir?"

Looking up from the tablet she reviewed, Elizabeth was clearly tired. Her eyes were tight, with beginnings of redness along the outer edges. Her posture was somewhat slouched, and it took her longer than usual to straighten up. "Dr Heightmeyer..." There was a clear hint of surprise in her voice as well as undertones of fatigue. "...is there something I need to know?"

"No." Kate walked into the office and sat on the edge of a chair. "I came to see how you are doing. The stress levels are rising, and command staff bears the burdens of an entire crew. It's a lot to take in at once, and it can become overwhelming if not dealt with in a timely manner."

Nodding slowly, Elizabeth forced a small smile. "I'm fine thank you. Well... that is to say, I'm tired but it's nothing that a long sleep couldn't cure." Reaching for her water bottle, she took a small sip and grimaced slightly at the taste. Obviously he bottle had been sitting there long enough for it to warm from chilled to room temperature. "How are the others doing?"

"They're coping." Kate narrowed her eyes, watching Weir's reaction to the water. "How long have you been working, Dr. Weir? I ask because time to rest and eat a decent meal is crucial to maintaining health and managing stress."

With a small frown, Elizabeth looked at her watch, her expression more blank than thoughtful. "Lets see. Between a few five minute naps and coffee and bathroom breaks... I'd say close to the twenty hours." With a small sigh and nod, she dropped her arm back to her side. "Yes I know. You don't need to tell me to get some rest. Assuming we survive this, I fully intend to. Ideally back on Earth, in my old bed with daytime soaps playing in the background."

Kate smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. She clearly recognized a woman trying to avoid what she needed. "Elizabeth, we won't survive this if you're so exhausted you can't see straight. Nor will this new alliance I keep hearing about." She held out one hand. "We need you thinking clearly, not trying to simply stay awake.

"I know Kate, but there is no time. The Wraith are almost here and if things go badly, we will need to evacuate." She explained tiredly. Closing her eyes, she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Just a little longer, and then, one way or another, it will be over."

Rather than focusing on Weir's physical state, Kate decided to change the subject. "I take it negotiations went well?"

Elizabeth nodded slowly and smiled. "All things considering, yes. The GTA ships will provide us with protection and technical assistance and we will help them figure out a way to get home. The only problem I can definitely foresee is how the IOA will react to the fact I've authorized shared access to Atlantis and the Ancient Database."

Kate listened, letting Weir rattle through the arrangements. It clearly allowed her to focus her mind and helped shake away a portion of the cobwebs.

"To be honest, I think we can learn a lot from these people. Not only are they from the future, they seem to prove that mankind can overcome its' self destructive phrase. It gives me hope. Plus, their commanders don't project that common military versus civilians' mentality."

"How would you characterize our ally's leadership?" Kate waited, watching Elizabeth's reactions.

"Experience without projecting condescension would be the most accurate description that comes to mind. Like they seen and done a lot but accept that they haven't seen everything. Admiral Takase is the picture of calm confidence and serenity. And Captain Lallemant seems to balance curiosity and genuine interest with caution and prudence."

Kate noted that when Elizabeth mentioned Captain Lallemant, her voice rose ever so slightly. Perhaps there was more than a professional interest. "You seem to admire both of them very much." She probed lightly with a small bemused smile.

"They are both very likable." Elizabeth replied with a hint of a coy smile. "Of course it's hard not to like the knight in shining armour come to save the day."

"Yes, it is," Kate agreed, letting her smile linger. "So, is the fleet the knight in shining armour? Or might you be referring to the good captain?"

Elizabeth blushed furiously and managed an guilty smile. "I was more thinking along the lines of the Admiral really."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "I've never known you to blush over another woman."

Chuckling lightly, Elizabeth shook her head. "Okay so maybe I've fallen under Phillip's spell." She held up her hand, index finger and thumb spaced an inch apart. "…a little. It's been a while since a handsome stranger flirted with me."

Kate sat back in her chair, a faintly triumphant look on her face. "Could it be that he's handsome, that he's a stranger, or both?" She let her smile fade. "Elizabeth, just know that no-one will fault you for being more than just our leader. Your position doesn't mean that you need to deny your wants and needs. Chemistry with another person-dare I even say, a relationship-isn't something to be avoided."

"Kate, I don't see this going beyond mild friendly flirting." She replied a bit cooler than needed. "When Daedalus arrives and we have a fully charged ZPM, we will be able to go home again. And I have someone waiting for me."

Kate nodded once and let the matter drop. It didn't take her psychology training to recognize that a defensive barrier had just gone up. "I understand." Instead of pursuing that line of conversation, she chatted with Weir until the control room informed them that the Wraith had finally, inescapably, arrived.

To Be Continued.


	9. Chapter 9

_**GTCC Justice**_**'s Combat Information Center**

Near orbit above Atlantis

Lantea System

"This is Takase to the fleet and Atlantis commands. The Wraith Hives have arrived and are launching waves of Darts. All ships; battle stations!"

Over the shared command communications channel, Admiral Takase heard Colonel Everett come on the line. _"This is Everett. The GTA ships have just informed us the Wraith Hive ships are approaching the planet. Defence team, to your positions."_

After a moment, a different voice came onto the line. _"This is Weir. Now I know how tired you all are, and how much we have asked of you these past few days. Hopefully the Daedalus will arrive soon with the ZPM module, but until that happens, our fate is in our own hands."_ Her voice sounded resolved and strong but, Akane heard a whisper of nervousness in her compatriot's tone. _"If during the course of this battle our mission fails. . . I will give the order to evacuate. Now, we all hope it won't come to that. But if it does, don't hesitate. That is all."_

Getting up from her command chair, Takase strode purposefully over to the holographic tactical projection table and assumed her place with her fellow officers. "Well, gentlemen, now it begins." The holographic image shimmered silently into being, and she watched as the Wraith positioned their fleet, noting that the cruisers screened the Hive ships from the GTA fleet. As the cruisers advanced, hundreds of Darts raced towards the fleet.

Across the table, the fleet's CAG Colonel Mercer spoke up, "As Captain Lallamant's report indicated, their fighters have speed and firepower but lack shields. We've elected to scramble Perseus interceptors loaded with Hornet missiles. We'll see how their fighters fair against swarm logic secondaries over long range."

Takase took a moment to run the numbers. "We don't have sufficient interceptors to engage all those Darts. A lot will get through."

"I'll be joining our Cadmus wings shortly as we establish a medium range screen for the fleet," Mercer explained confidently.

"Very good Colonel." Takase nodded. Turning to one of the other officers hovering over the tactical projection, she continued laying out her orders. "Hold back the Hercs and Manticores for now, but have them ready on hot standby. We want to draw in those Hives and cruisers to us."

"Admiral, only half their fighters are moving to engage us. The rest are breaking off. It looks like they are going to swing wide of the fleet and make a run for the city."

"Damn it!" That was unexpected. Most enemies would have engaged the fleet

Immediately and then sent down ships while the defenders were too busy to split their attention. The Wraith obviously wanted the city badly to risk such a move. Unfortunately, Takase's positioning for a long, hard slugfest hadn't prepared her for the enemy's sudden mad dash. "This is Takase to all Interceptors. Prioritize the darts that are heading for the city. Do not let them land troops." Turning to Mercer, she frowned. "Can our fighters get them before they reach the city?"

"I doubt it, ma'am. These Wraith Darts are hitting the atmosphere at a dangerous angle of attack. Assuming it doesn't kill them, it will shortly their flight distance. The Perseus pilots will need to take a less reckless flight path or they risk burning up. Add to that, the targeting sensors will be briefly blinded by atmospheric ionization during re-entry, which precludes getting long range aspect lock."

"Very well, get to your squadron. Order the Cadmus to press the enemy. We'll launch the assault fighters and bombers as soon as your wings have engaged. Let's see if we can encourage them to use their fighters defensively."

* * *

_**GTCC Justice**_**'s Main Fighter Hangar**

"_Epsilon wing, you are cleared to launch!"_

"Acknowledged, Command." Colonel Winters touched a few final inputs on his cockpit control interface, then pressed his back firmly against his seat, held his breath and engaged full throttle. The powerful engines of the Heracles assault fighter roared in response, sending deep rumbling vibration through the entire seventeen metre long space-frame before hurtling the ship out into open space. After the fighter cleared the Justice, Marc smoothly adjusted the ships trajectory towards the nearest enemy cruiser. The Herc wasn't his favourite strike craft. Compared to his beloved Atalanta stealth fighter, the assault ship was slow and sluggish to respond, but what it lacked into the agility department, it more than made up for it in shields, armour and teeth.

When his sensors confirmed that the other assault wings were launched, Winters activated the linked comm. "This is Epsilon leader to assault wings. Form up for escort and make for your assigned cruisers. Clear the road and keep your bombers alive."

His orders were acknowledged with a chorus of _'Ayes'_ and _'Yes, sirs.'_

"Alright boys and girls, let's go give our new Wraith friends a fiery welcome."

* * *

_**GTCC Justice**_**'s Combat Information Center**

"Wraith cruisers are moving at full speed in a wide net formation. They are basically ignoring the _Churchill_ and the _Krushchev_, Admiral." Lt Commander Hawkins advised, though his voice held a hint of confusion.

"They can tell by our formation that the Justice is the core of the fleet; just liking I'm guessing their Hive ships are. I'm guessing that they want to flank us from as many sides as possible to minimize our escape." Takase explained, watching the opening moves of the battle play out on the holographic table.

"But they are ignoring the point of the sword. Why would they potentially let our battle cruisers engage their Hive ships?"

"It's likely that they don't see us as a major threat." Smiling slightly at her junior officer, Takase offered her years of tactical experience and insight. "Remember what Doctor Weir told us. These Wraith defeated the one major opposing force in this galaxy over ten thousand years ago. Compared to them, we likely appear to be technologically inferior. We don't even use shields on our capital ships. How hard could we be to beat?"

"Admiral, Captains Ambrose and Thompson are requesting clearance to fire." Harrison announced.

"Negative. All ships are to continue to limit fire to torpedoes, pulse turrets, missile batteries and flak guns until the _Churchill_ and the _Krushchev _have the optimal firing solution on that first Hive ship." She glanced at the countdown readout. Just a few more minutes. . . .

* * *

_**GTCr Mackenzie King**_**'s Bridge**

Sparks flew and the lighting flickered as another salvo from a nearby Wraith cruiser hitthe _Mackenzie King_. Holding onto his command chair, Captain Lallamant gritted his teeth. "Damage report!"

"Port bow armour is holding but the stern armour is beginning to buckle. Severe damage to the number seven heavy turret; it's lost partial alignment control, and rate of fire is reduced to a third of standard."

"Let it not be said that those bastards don't know how to put up a fight." Glancing at his small chair mounted tactical display, Phillip assessed the situation. "Helm, bring us about, bearing twenty seven mark four."

"Sir, that will bring us almost directly above one of the enemy cruisers and dangerously close to a potential collision."

"Noted, Lieutenant." He replied firmly. "Proceed as ordered. Ahead full emergency burn."

"Aye sir."

Commander Dalen flashed Phillip a concerned look from his command station to the right, as the _King_ banked and accelerated towards a nearby Wraith Cruiser. "Are we doing what I think we're doing, Captain?"

"I know it's risky, Jack, but it should work. Those ships may be big and powerful, but they seem to be designed for medium to long range broadside engagements. With a little luck we can slip in under its field of fire and catch a bit of a breather." Phillip explained quickly. "Besides, at that close range, our flak guns and pulse turrets will chew them up something awful."

"Sir, while we might be briefly safe from the target cruiser, we'd still be fair game to the other enemy ships. You are assuming that they value their fleet assets enough not to risk a friendly fire scenario." Dalen hurriedly pointed out.

"Only one way to know for sure, Commander"

"Aye, sir, and while I hope you're right, I'd like the record to state that you are nuts!"

"In we survive, I'll be sure to mention it in the after action report." Lallemant grinned as his ship dove towards the enemy. While the inertial dampeners hid a lot of the motion of the ship, they couldn't hide the surge of forward motion as the _Mackenzie King_ recklessly charged the Wraith cruiser. Incoming fire slammed the ship, and klaxons screamed as armour integrity fell into the danger zone. Then, nothing beyond the fire of her own weapon systems… the enemy fire halted briefly as the _King_ passed overhead, practically skimming the enemy's hull. The one sided battle only lasted a few seconds before the firefight resumed with a few parting shots as the four hundred and ninety three metre long Apollo class cruiser shot past and out of weapons range.

"We did it. Our aft armour is completely compromised and the forward armour isn't in much better shape." Dalen stated in frustration as he looked over his damage control console. "Amazingly, the engines are still intact and fully operational, as are most of our weapons. Sensor control is partially blinded but we work around that with the fleet's shared data feeds."

"And our Wraith friends?"

"We are reading multiple breaches along their outer hull. Reading vented atmospheric gases, so their inner structure was likely compromised as well." Eyes flicking back and forth, Jack skimmed the incoming telemetry. "She's lost her starboard weapons array and, apparently, attitude and thrusters control as well, as it's beginning to roll. Those ships are one tough nut to crack but at least it looks like she's out of the fight for now."

"So what did we lose?" Grim faced, Phillip braced for the news.

"It's more a question of what we will lose soon. The main reactor is red lining towards overload. We can put it on manual surge control and limp away, but, if we get back in the fight, I doubt the engineering crew can hold it together."

* * *

**Above the planet**

The Dart that Colonel Winters chased attempted to juke hard right to avoid primary cannon fire only to be tagged and torn apart by a well timed Harpoon missile up the tail, rewarding Marc with another satisfying explosion. Debris bounced off his shields and scattered as he flew through the explosion's dissipating fireball. Glancing at his systems readout, he pleasantly noted no damage and only a slight drop in shield energy. Returning to his previous course, he visually scanned for more enemy craft between his ships and their target. Seeing none, he glanced at his LIDAR system to confirm and detected nothing in the immediate proximity.

"Alright Phi Wing, the path is cleared. We'll hang back and give you cover. Go score us a cruiser kill."

"_It will be our pleasure, sir."_

Winters smiled beneath his flight mask as he watched the four Basilisk assault bombers his wing had escorted swoop past his fighter to start their attack run. For all their size and firepower, the Wraith cruisers appeared to lack any anti-fighter deterrents beyond their Darts. The slow and ungainly twenty six metre long Basilisk may have been easy pickings for the fast and agile Darts, but it might as well have been a hummingbird to the cruiser; their anti ship cannons just couldn't lock on them. As the bombers approached the cruiser and launched their link fired Cyclops warheads, a detonation warning beeped on his ship's control console. All GTA pilots knew to achieve a safe distance after heavy warheads were launched, and Marc banked away from the ship and temporarily shunted some of his reserve power into the rear shields. As the bombers rocketed away from the cruiser on full afterburner, the Cyclops warheads hit and detonated in rapid succession. The power of the fusion warheads tore apart the Wraith ship like a toy glider in a tornado. The assault ships rode the wake of the energy shockwave from the cruisers destruction, avoiding damage.

Quickly reviewing his LIDAR display, Colonel Winters isolated the next likely target and transmitted it to his ships. "Form up."

* * *

**GTCr **_**Mackenzie King's**_** Bridge**

As the GTA cruiser limped away from the area of the engagement, Commander Dalen could only grimace at the battle damage and hope that they could hastily affect some repairs before they were forced back into the fight. Luckily it seemed that the Wraith were sufficiently occupied with the rest of fleet to ignore the fact that the _King_ had slipped through their picket line.

Touching his station's communication controls, Jack cycled through the available channels, briefly listening to chatter to get a better sense of the battle. Normally he would hover over the bridge's holo-table to get an overview of the combat area, but a power surge during the fight had knocked it out. Part of him preferred it that way. While the tactical display was a strategic marvel, correlating sensor data from multiple fleet assets to generate a remarkable detailed display of useful information, it felt cold and impersonal. The officer in him knew that battle was often a giant chess game and that one had to know where to push and when to sacrifice a pawn to deliver a crippling blow. That didn't change the fact that it was real people fighting and dying in these battles.

Flipping into the Atlantis chatter, he paused to listen in on their new allies.

"_Sheppard, are you ready?"_ That sounded like the city's leader, Doctor Weir. Though he had never met her, her voice was full of tension and worry.

"_They're sending in another wave! Major, we need to go!"_ Weir sounded desperate. Dalen's fingers flew across his console, pulling up available data feeds from the fighter cover over the city. As his eyes flicked across the readout, he could tell that the situation had dissolved into a complete furball and that the enemy Darts heavily outnumbered the friendly fighters.

"_Rodney, nothing is happening!"_ Jack didn't recognize the heavily accented man's voice, but, again, the worry was evident.

"_Why are there no jumpers in the air!"_ Elizabeth's impotent frustration came across the line.

"_We must have exhausted the Mark II's energy output. It's dead."_

_What was a Mark II again?_ Dalen's mind raced to remember the details of Atlantis's contingency defence plan. He knew that it involved a pair of Helios warheads the Admiral had given them. Something about remote flying those ships of theirs into the enemy carriers…

"_Heads up, people, they're in the base!"_

In the base? How was that even possible? There were no reports of landing craft or troop transports. Were the Wraith landing those fighters of theirs?

"_What's the status on that damn jumper?"_ The same voice… he thought it belonged to Colonel Everett but he couldn't be sure.

After a moment of silence, Weir finally responded, her tone oddly flat. _"It's on its way."_

Scowling deeply, Dalen felt his insides tightened at how her voice changed. Years of command allowed him to recognize when a hard decision had been made. A pawn had been sacrificed.

* * *

**City of Atlantis - Control room**

Over the radio, Elizabeth heard Zelenka. _"Doctor Weir, Major Sheppard is taking the jumper up."_ The man was cleared astonished and confused.

"I'm aware of that, Doctor Zelenka. Start prepping Jumper Two." Elizabeth forced herself to harden her heart. This was war and in war people died. In this war, people she knew, people she considered her friends, would die. It wasn't fair, but very little in life was.

Gunfire on the radio quickly brought Elizabeth out of her rueful thoughts. "Teyla, I'm hearing gunfire. What's your status?" No answer. "Teyla, do you hear me?" Still nothing. "Teyla"

* * *

**Above the City of Atlantis - Puddle Jumper**

As Sheppard's jumper cleared the top of the jumper bay, he saw the battle raging all around him; the streams of rail gun fire, the plumes of anti-aircraft missiles, the white flashes of Wraith weapons and the purple flashes of GTA fighter cannons. The Wraith Darts were making a series of attack runs against the city but were being shot down more regularly. The seventeen metre long GTA interceptors were beginning to steadily whittle down their slightly smaller opponents with cannon and swarming missile fire.

A Dart vectored towards him, apparently lining up the Jumper for a kill shot, only to be taken down by a short stream of rail gun fire. Preferring to not be an obvious target, John activated the ship's cloak. "Hopefully, if I take this one out, the other one will back off."

Glancing back momentarily, Sheppard looked at the secured Helios warhead, which their new allies had supplied. As he cleared the atmosphere, he saw the full scale battle happening before him. While the Wraith were down a number of cruisers, the two Hive ships appeared to be mostly undamaged, and the GTA ships look like they were taking a pounding. "You know, if this works. . . Somebody might have to do it again."

The only response he got was Elizabeth's solemn, _"Understood."_

To Be Continued


	10. Chapter 10

_**GTCC Justice**_**'s Combat Information Center**

"Status reports!" Takase ordered firmly, her eyes locked on the multiple holographic GTA ships glowing levels of red indicating battle damage.

"We've taken out three of the seven Wraith cruisers, their fighter cover is fully occupied and the Hive ships show only minor damage from Heracles strafing runs. Our bombers are reloading and can be redeployed in a few minutes." Harrison stated with cold and detached efficiency.

"And our ships?" Years of training and combat experience hardened her for the news she knew was coming.

"We've lost the GTFg _London_, and the GTFg _Vancouver_. The GTDs _Jaguar_ is crippled and adrift; her crew has abandoned ship and are currently being recovered. Barring access to a repair yard, I doubt she can be salvaged. Recovery craft are moving to secure an available escape pods. The GTCr _Mackenzie King_ is heavily damaged and has moved out of the field of engagement to affect repairs. Given her value, I'd recommend we order her to withdraw. The remaining ships have light to moderate damage and are in no immediate damage. Our fighters are taking only minor losses. Current estimates are below ten percent."

"What about the _Khrushchev _and the _Churchill_?"

"Both battle cruisers have suffered minimal damage." Harrison glanced at his tactical display and smiled wickedly. "And they have now entered optimal firing range. Their weapons are hot and await your order."

"Finally!" Takase activated the ship to fleet communication channel. "This is Takase. All ships; weapons free. I repeat; weapons free! Take these bastards out of my sky!"

"Admiral!" Lieutenant Connor called from the one of the sensor posts. "We got a new signal about to emerge from hyperspace. Mass shadow configuration unrecognized, but damn is it fast! It practically came out of nothing!"

Looking over to Connor's post, she frowned. "Show me."

On the holographic display, a small simulated hyperspace window bloomed briefly, discharging a small command class vessel of unknown design just beyond the planet's lunar orbit. Immediately the tactical systems assigned it the yellow glow of a neutral ship even as reams of sensor data began to be complied on it. Touching a few commands on the holo-table, she zoomed a portion of the display in on the ship.

"This must be the Earth ship, _Daedalus,_ they were expecting." Takase said softly, thinking out loud as she read over the preliminary scan data. It was much smaller than she had expected, especially for something capable of crossing the inter-galactic void. No detectable energy weapon systems, minimal hull armour, not a single escape pod… and yet she was reading an enormous power signature. What kind of reactor could possibly produce that kind of power curve? As more readings filtered through to the station, they became increasingly confusing. The hull appeared to be comprised of unknown materials. Granted, new alloys and synthetic compounds were always being developed, but ship board sensors normally extrapolated the base components. Less than a minute after the ship had dropped out of hyperspace, the power signature suddenly plummeted, stabilizing out at a level equivalent that of a frigate class vessel. Bizarre.

"I want the _Daedalus_ flagged as friendly and an update pushed to all tactical systems fleet wide. I don't want to risk a 'blue fire' incident." She ordered firmly. After a few seconds, the glow around the holographic Earth ship turned from yellow to green. "Comms, get a line at that ship's captain."

"Aye, Admiral" The communications officer replied, bringing up the Atlantis radio chatter and related frequencies.

"_They haven't detected my approach. Weapon is armed and ready. I'm going in."_

Shock assaulted Takase after a moment as she realized that someone was piloting one of Jumpers on a kamikaze run.

"Admiral, the battle cruisers are firing." Harrison advised quickly, drawing her focus back to the rest of the battle. On each ship, two large weapon ports began to glow brightly before releasing a pair of emerald green energy streams. These new beam weapons chewed through one of the Hive ship's armour and super structure before ripping out the other side. With four beams hitting the ship in close succession for a full three second discharge, the Wraith mother-ship couldn't handle that level of punishment and exploded. Across the scope of the battlefield, other beam capable ships opened fire. The destroyers fired light class beam cannons, the thinner blue-white discharges slashing the enemy ships across the hull. The _Justice_ and her remaining active cruisers fired both light and heavy beam cannons that lanced through structure.

Over the Atlantis comm. frequency she heard the Jumper pilot's exclamation of first surprise then joy at the destruction of the Hive ship. That he was still alive meant that he was likely targeting the other mother-ship. Unfortunately as sophisticated as they were, the GTA sensors were not able to detect or track the cloaked ship. Part of her wanted to warn the pilot away from his run, but there would not be enough time, not to mention that the Hive was turning to run. It could not be allowed to escape and warn its people about the strength and capabilities of the GTA fleet. Better to sacrifice one life than risk thousands.

"_Major Sheppard, decloak your Jumper immediately."_ An unidentified voiced ordered suddenly.

"_What? Who the hell is this?"_ Takase wondered the same question.

"_Authentication Alpha Charlie One. Decloak now!"_ That had to be one of the Atlantis personnel or maybe the commander of the Earth ship. But why? Decloaking now could only endanger the mission.

With a brilliance flash of blue and green energies, the second Wraith Hive ship exploded sending wreckage and residue radiation streaming in all direction. Despite the elimination of a major enemy threat, Takase sighed silently to herself. Yet another medal of bravery to be award posthumously…

* * *

**High orbit above Lantea**

Marc winced under his flight mask and turned his eyes away from the sharp light of the explosion even as an automatic safety measure turned the transparent material of the cockpit's canopy opaque. Blinking a bit to clears the spots from his vision, he touched the override which reverted the canopy back to its default state. A quick glance around the battle area showed that the tide of battle had turned in the favour of the GTA force once Admiral Takase had ordered the fleet to take off their gloves. At first, Wraith cruisers had been intentionally allowed to flank the fleet, surrounding the GTCC _Justice's_ defensive picket. Now that the beam cannon were brought into play, the Wraith ships found themselves stretched out and exposed to withering fire.

"_All assault groups,"_ The voice of Colonel Mercer, the _Justice's_ CAG and overall commander of the fleet air group came on the comms. _"We are uploading to you new targeting data generated from close range scans. Disable and destroy the enemy hyperdrive and sublight engines. Do not allow the Wraith to flee the field of engagement."_

Marc chimed in along with the other assault group squad leader. "Acknowledged Command. Epsilon, form up on me and let's move people."

* * *

**Right Hangar Bay - USS **_**Daedalus**_

"_All forward rail guns stand by. Launch all fighters. Let's go get it done."_

Seated in the cockpit of his assigned F302 fighter, Major Evan Lorne ignored the ambient radio chatter as he finished his pre-flight checks. Once he verified that all systems showed green, he buttoned up his breathing mask, then looked to the deck officer and gave him a thumbs up to indicate that he was ready for takeoff. The officer guided him quickly out of his parking stall with deft hand signals then gave him the clearance to proceed with a chopping motion toward the open hangar doors.

Throttling the 302 to full power, Lorne held his breath in anticipation of acceleration G-forces as the fighter launched from the bay. Of course, advanced inertial dampeners counteracted most of them and ran against his years of training and experience. Briefly smiling to himself behind his mask, he marvelled at the technological wonder that he was privileged to fly before focusing back in on the task at hand.

"This is Blue Leader to all fighters. Assume defensive positions around the _Daedalus_ and give her cover." Lorne ordered calmly as he banked away from the ship to clear the protective bubble of her shields. "Watch that the enemy doesn't draw you too far out of position and conserve your missiles where possible."

"_Understood, sir." _

"_Acknowledged, Blue Leader."_

As _Daedalus_ accelerated into the fray, her rail guns opened fire on nearby enemy ships, adding to the maelstrom already in play about the planet. The enemy responded by sortieing a number of Darts not currently occupied by GTA fighters. The ship's shields flashed white with each impact as they held the incoming onslaught of enemy fire at bay, while the combined firepower of the 302's and rail guns cut the Darts to shreds one by one.

"_This is Admiral Takase of the GTCC __Justice__ to Colonel Caldwell of the __Daedalus__. Welcome to Pegasus."_ A confident woman's voice stated over the communication channel.

"_Thank you, Admiral."_ Caldwell's voice was cool and businesslike. _"It looks like the remaining __cruisers are retreating. Will you be able to bring your heavy weapons to bear before they get out __of range?"_

"_Negative. __Khrushchev's__ capacitors are still recharging, and Wraith fire has hit her engines. Given the enemy's speed and escape vector, I doubt she will be able to close fast enough. One of the __Churchill's__ heavy beam cannons emitter has been disabled by a kamikaze Dart attack." _Takase explained quickly. _"Given your ship's speed, I'd recommend you attack from the flanks. If we can limit their escape vectors, it will give us time to set up a kill shot."_

"_Acknowledged, Admiral"_

Hearing the chatter, Lorne raised a brow and could almost imagine the look on Colonel Caldwell's face. The man was likely miffed, to say the least. Not only was his brand new ship being outshined, but it seemed that he was outranked by someone who had been given access to SGC secure communication frequencies.

As interesting as the radio chatter was, Lorne had his own issues at the moment. He rolled and dove around the enemy, fighting not just to defend his base ship but also to stay alive. What the Dart pilots lacked in finesse, they made up for in numbers and suicidal aggression. It seemed like for every one Lorne shot down, three more took it place.

Banking left, he pulled his fighter in behind a Dart that had just made a strafing run on the _Daedalus_. Too close to use a missile, he flicked his weapon selector to guns and lined up his shot. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the Dart exploded. A short burst of purple energy bolts shot through the expanding fireball and a split second later a GTA fighter followed as well, the gases and debris scattering along the silhouette of the craft's shields. Surprise and terror briefly took Lorne, but luckily his instinct and reflexes immediately kicked in and he pulled up, banking hard right. The two fighters narrowly missed each other as they shot past, and Lorne's heart pounded and almost burst in his chest.

"Holy crap! That crazy sonofabitch nearly killed me!"

* * *

**High Above Lantea**

"_Epsilon One, you've picked up a pair of bogeys coming fast; seven o'clock low."_

The active threat alarm on Marc's Heracles assault fighter began beeping frantically, as he glances down at the LIDAR screen. Yep. Two Wraith Darts coming up fast and hot. Banking hard right and diving, he attempted to slip out of the enemy's field of fire but knew he hadn't succeeded when his shields flared from weapon impacts. "Damn it! Damn it!"

Pushing the afterburners, Marc pulled back hard on the controls, forcing the powerful fighter into a sudden climb. Forced back into his seat by the G-forces, he used quick, controlled breathing techniques to avoid blacking out. Even though all fighters were equipped with inertial dampening systems, there were limitations on how much force they could counter. Corkscrewing left out of the climb, he glanced at his shield energy output and noted that his aft shield were down to fourteen percent.

A quick glance at his screen showed that the two Wraith Darts had overshot him on the turn. Whether it was a bad piloting or simply a lack of speed matching capability, the turn of events had likely saved his life and given him a chance to catch his breath. Thumbing the function to target the nearest hostile target, Marc lined the Dart up along the projected lead indicator and opened fire with the Herc's primary cannons.

* * *

_**GTCr **__**Mackenzie King's**_** Bridge**

"Give me some good news, Jack," Phillip asked sullenly. The _Mackenzie King_, being an Apollo class cruiser, should have been adding her two heavy and five light beam cannons to the assault but couldn't right now. Her main reactor still ran at dangerously unstable output levels and firing the main cannons would have pushed it into overload. Forced to sit back idly, Captain Lallamant watched as the few remaining enemy ships scrambled as they ran to get out of beam range.

Commander Dalen winced and furrowed his brow. "Well it's a good news, bad new situation. The good news is engineering thinks that they can stabilize the reactor within about five minutes. The bad news is that they think it may take up to a week to full repair the reactor damage."

"Terrific. Don't suppose that there is an orbital repair facility in easy reach?" Phillip groaned and shook his head. Reactor repairs were always a miserable experience.

"Captain, you need to see this!" Johnson, one of the sensor control officers shouted.

Leaping up from his chair, Lallamant rushed over to the sensor console. The screen showed a section of the battle near the _Justice_, a section which now had a sizeable gap in the defence line due to the _Mackenzie King_ having moved into a less exposed position.

"Sir, one of their cruisers has looped back and is now on a collision course with the command carrier. Impact in seventy seconds."

"Get me a comm. channel to one of destroyers. Someone needs to intercept that cruiser!" Phillip ordered hurriedly.

"It won't help Captain. They are too far away, and the only ships in range are frigates." Dalen explained quickly.

"They won't have enough firepower to stop that cruiser. What's our weapons status?" Lallamant barked.

"Not good, sir. Beam cannon capacitors are empty and the pulse cannons have won't the power to stop them!" The chief gunnery officer replied.

Taking a moment to think, Phillip made a decision. "Helm, put us on a collision course with the cruiser. Give me full emergency burn, and then get to the escape pods." Lallamant slapped the nearest intercom control. "This is the Captain. All hands abandon ship! I repeat, all hands abandon ship!"

"Phillip, are you nuts? The reactor won't make it! The ship could explode before the escape pods got even fifty metres out!" Dalen said worriedly.

"I'll stay behind and manually regulate it! Now get out of here! Move it, Jack!" Phillip shouted, already running to the power regulation interface.

* * *

**High Above Lantea**

Another Dart destroyed, Lorne glanced out his cockpit as his eyes followed a pair of missiles race from _Daedalus_ toward one of the Wraith cruisers. Unfortunately, defending Darts had sufficient time to intercept and fire at them, deflecting them enough so that they impacted on the surface of the ship, causing moderate damage.

Frowning at the failure of the missiles to destroy their target, he felt a pang of envy at the kind of firepower their 'allied' ships had access to. Clearly Colonel Caldwell was not deterred by the unsuccessful first attack as a second set of missiles launched and streaked towards the enemy.

"Come on. Come on…"

* * *

_**GTCC **__**Justice's**_** Combat Information Centre**

"Why hasn't that cruiser been destroyed!" Harrison roared at the nearest Weapons Control officer.

"Port light beam cannons are in mid recharge cycle and the heavy cannons do not have angle of attack. The pulse turrets and missile launchers are hammering it but are not slowing it down."

"I think they've shunted power from their weapon systems to their defence systems. We are reading accelerated armour regeneration along their bow." Lieutenant Connor reported hurriedly.

"Helm, bring us about so that the forward heavy beam cannon can be brought to bear on the incoming cruiser." Takase ordered. Her expression was a mask of icy resolve. As the massive command carrier began its slow lumbering turn, she could only hope that the Wraith ship somehow slower down.

"Ma'am, I'm reading the _Mackenzie King_ on a direct intercept course with the enemy." Connor exclaimed. "She's launching her escape pods!"

"Good God!" Takase's mask fell as she glanced at the sensor read outs on the heavily damaged _King_. "He's hoping to ram the cruiser before it can ram us!"

* * *

**Bridge of the USS **_**Daedalus**_

"Get it done, Doctor. That's an order." Caldwell's tone brooked no further discussion.

"Colonel, you had better look at this." Marks stated quickly, pointing to his sensor readings.

* * *

_**GTCr **__**Mackenzie King's**_** Bridge**

Captain Lallamant worked frantically at the power management system, striving to stay ahead of each new reactor surge, just a little longer. "Regina, status!"

"The final escape pods are away. Ship's internal sensor indicate that you are the only remaining crew member aboard, Captain." The disembodied voice of the ship virtual intelligence responded calmly over the creaks and moans of the damaged cruiser's hull. "Structural integrity has fallen to sixty two percent. Recommend reducing engine output by fifty four percent to avoid further hull stress."

"So noted." Phillip replied, hint of irony in his voice. "Time to impact, please"

"The _Mackenzie King_ will impact with the enemy vessel in seven seconds. Given current forward velocity, there is a high probability that both vessels will be destroyed." Regina stated calmly.

"Actually, that's the whole idea." Phillip teased, doing his best Clarke Gable impression.

The holographic avatar of Regina shimmered into being beside him, and smiled. Phillip always got a kick out of the person the designers had chosen for Regina's avatar. She looked like that old Earth actress Vivien Leigh. He figured that she had been chosen as she was a prominent person at the time when the real Mackenzie King had been famous. Unfortunately the designers hadn't checked their facts fully as Vivien Leigh was from her English nation state and not Canada as Mackenzie King had been. Not that it really mattered. The crew had loved her and one of the systems programmers had even expanded her base programming by giving her the ability to assume the costumes and accents from her various movie portrayals. At that moment, she looked just like Scarlett O'Hara, complete with green velvet draperies dress.

Tapping another set of inputs, he activated a forward view on the screen. As the Wraith cruiser loomed large ahead of him, he closed his eyes and harnessed his courage.

"Impact in, four, three, two…"

"Frankly my dear. I don't give a damn."

To Be Continued


	11. Chapter 11

**Atlantis Control Room**

Elizabeth stared as the sensor display as battle raged on above. The IFF data that Akane had provided her during their talk now allowed Atlantis personal to keep track of how the Alliance fleet was doing. As she watched, two identifier icons she had been watching an eye on blinked out of existence. She whirled. "What happened?"

Zelenka stared at her from his place monitoring the comm frequencies. "The _Mackenzie King_ just rammed a Wraith cruiser to prevent it from hitting the fleet's lead ship."

"Survivors?" Elizabeth demanded.

Zelenka shrugged impotently. "There are a number of escape pods showing multiple life signs. I can't tell who they are."

"Weir to Takase. Admiral, we've just registered a collision between a Wraith vessel and the _Mackenzie King_. Can you confirm?"

* * *

_**GTCC **__**Justice's**_** Combat Information Centre**

The luminous third dimensional image above the tactical projection table showed the collision of the _Mackenzie King_ and the Wraith cruiser with terrible accuracy. The merging of the two holographic ships, the way the enemy cruiser rolled and listed with the collisions, and the resultant explosion ripping through both vessels sobered the room. After a moment, the representation of both ships faded from the projection.

"Both vessels destroyed at two eighty seven metres off the port bow. Monitoring systems report only minor damage from the explosive wake." Lieutenant Connor reported softly.

"Understood…" Takase stepped away from the projection table and moved off to the side. Her face was neutral, but her insides tightened into knots. She hated losing ships and especially hated losing good men. Lallamant's heroic actions had saved hundreds of lives onboard the _Justice_ and had saved her ship from what would likely have been a crippling blow. Fleet command would no doubt award him a posthumous Medal of Honor when they got home…_ if _they got home.

"_Weir to Takase."_ Elizabeth's voice brought her back from her thoughts. _"Admiral, we've just registered a collision between a Wraith vessel and the __Mackenzie King__. Can you confirm?"_

"I'm here, Elizabeth." She took a moment to compose herself before answering her new friend's question. "Captain Lallamant sacrificed himself to save the lives onboard the _Justice_."

* * *

**Atlantis Control Room**

"…_sacrificed himself to save the lives onboard the __Justice__."_

Elizabeth struggled to breathe. She hadn't known Phillip Lallamant well, but she'd grown to like him in the short time they'd had together. She shook her head. Somewhere along the way, she had begun to think about the slight spark between them. Now, she'd never know.

Between one heartbeat and the next, a mask descended over Elizabeth's face. This was war. And people died in war. "Thank you, Admiral. I'm sorry for your loss."

_"We will mourn for our dead when the battle is over."_ Takase seemed to have recovered slightly.

Elizabeth accepted that and let out a deep breath. People lived and died. How they died defined who they were in life. She would remember Phillip Lallamant.

* * *

_**GTCC **__**Justice's**_** Combat Information Centre**

Takase took a moment to offer a silent prayer for Phillip before returning to the table. "What is the status of the remaining enemy cruisers?"

"They are mostly contained. The Earth vessel is chasing down one of the last ships with a margin to escape."

"Good… good." Takase shook her head and forced her mind back into the game. Glancing at the projected display, she quickly reassessed her remaining fleet assets. "Have the _GTCv __Barracuda_ and _GTDs __Kodiak _move to assist the Earth ship. I don't want that Wraith cruiser jumping out."

"Ma'am, we've detected an anomalous energy surge within the…"

The holographic projection displayed a sizable explosion which occurred in the middle of the fleeing cruiser that tore the vessel apart. Takase raised a brow at the odd occurrence and looked to her XO, Harrison to get his take on it

"Reactor overload maybe?"

"Negative, sir. Sensor analysis indicates that there was a power thermonuclear explosion onboard momentarily after a brief energy spike similar to a molecular dissembler but with inverse pattern."

Matter-Energy Transport? Had these people developed working teleportation technology? Takase's mind raced back to her Academy days. GTA scientists had been working on matter-energy transport for years with little success. It just required too much computing power and energy to get it work outside of the lab and on a large scale. The research eventually led to the molecular dissembler beams used on military resource collector vessels. If they had reliable matter-energy transport, the Atlantian folks were certainly more advanced in some areas.

"Get me a channel to the Earth ship."

"Channel open, ma'am"

"Well done, _Daedalus_. We couldn't have done it better ourselves." Her voice carried a calm, confident authority. "We are in the midst of mopping up the last of the Wraith ships. Those few cruisers that remain are crippled and shouldn't put up much of a fight. Concentration your efforts on eliminating the remaining Darts."

"_Understood."_ The Colonel's voice sounded somewhat reluctant. _"Helm, move us into flanking __position. Let's try and box them in, so we can clean up this mess."_

"Admiral, the Wraith fighters are regrouping" Jenkins, the other sensor control officer, advised. ""The formation is heading towards Atlantis."

"_Elizabeth, you've got a problem!"_ Another man's voice came across the shared comm. to Atlantis control. It was the pilot of the Jumper that destroyed the other Hive ship. But how?

"_Yeah we see that Major."_ It was obvious from her voice that Doctor Weir was concerned.

"_We're moving to intercept. But I don't think we can get there in time."_

"Not a chance, they're coming into too fast." Jenkins put in quickly.

"_Oh my God."_ Another voice Takase didn't recognize piped in. _"Their approach is ballistic"_

"_What exactly does that mean?"_ Elizabeth's voice had turned to concerned.

"_Their impact velocities will be in excess of ten thousand kilometres per hour. No part of the city_

_can survive that!"_

"_You better get the damned shield up!"_ The Jumper pilot barked worriedly

Shield? The city has a shield? How was possible? GTA research had shown time and time again that the larger area that needed to be protected; the harder it was to make shields effective. It was a case of diminishing returns. Larger areas took exponentially more power and offered geometrically less efficient protection. This was the reason strike craft and other small vessels classically used shields, and why capital ships relied on energized reactive armour.

* * *

**High above Lantea**

"_This is Takase to all fighters. Transfer power from your shields to your engines and get after them. I want those Darts destroyed before they can impact the city."_

"You heard her, Blue Squadron." Lorne added quickly to ensure that the SGC pilots complied. "Break and engage. Take out those fighters by any means necessary!"

"_We're on it, Blue Leader. Engaging now."_

Thrusters on full, Lorne closed on one of the enemy fighters as best as his fighter could. As fast as the F302s were, the Wraith fighters were just that little bit faster, so he was forced to assume a dangerously sharp intercept path. As the Darts dove into the planet's atmosphere, the Major hurriedly followed, his targeting system moments away from getting solid missile lock. Alarms began to beep in warning as the 302's angle of attack was too steep to safely enter the mesosphere. The nose was starting to glow and the cockpit temperature rose.

"Come on… just a few seconds more…"

Finally the computer signaled a lock on tone, and he quickly pulled the trigger. As the missile leaped from its rail and closed on the fleeing Dart, Lorne pulled back hard in the stick, desperate to avoid meeting a fiery end. The fighter fought against the stick for a moment, bucking and shaking in the turbulence. The 302 finally began to pull out of the fall, though numerous systems showed signs of imminent failure. Knowing that he had to achieve at least minimal orbit distance, Lorne strained against the g-forces the overtaxed inertial dampeners could no longer counteract and flicked the switch to fire the fighter's rocket booster engine. The engine coughed for a second then fired, pinning him back into his seat.

For a while, Lorne lost all sense of time and spatial awareness as he struggled to stay conscious. Then, after thirty seconds which felt more like thirty minutes, the rocket booster cut out, and the g-forces eased off. Breathing deeply, Lorne shook his head as he forced his brain back to a fully functional state. Once the spots cleared from his vision, he squinted at his read-outs and assessed his situation. The rocket booster was exhausted, and the main aerospike jet engines were out. Primary computer function seemed to be down, but at least life support looked stable. Glancing out his window, he could see that he was some distance from the _Daedalus_ and the rest of the fleet. Luckily it looked like the planet's gravity well prevented him from drifting off in open space, even if he was orbiting away from help.

"This is Major Lorne. Does anyone read me?"

* * *

Chasing after the kamikaze Darts, Marc shunted power from both his shields and weapon reserves into engines. Punching his afterburners, the mighty Heracles fighter raced towards the planet. It wasn't going to be enough. Maybe if his fighter had been loaded out with Trebuchet beyond visual range missiles, there would have been a chance. Right now, the Perseus Interceptors already providing air support over the city had the best chance of stopping the Wraith fighters. With luck, they hadn't expended all their secondaries and could still take the Dart down with a few kilometres to spare.

Marc switched off the filtering function on his ships communications system so that he could hear all the radio chatter and know what was going on. The voices of GTA pilots intermingled with those of Atlantis personnel.

"_This is Kappa Six, I have aspect lock. Tornados are away!"_ There was a brief pause. _"Got 'im! Two of his wingmen have veered off as well!"_

"_...time do we have?"_ He believed that was Weir, the woman in charge of the city.

"_Forty five seconds"_

"_Iota leader to Iota Wing, don't let them past you! Put everything into your forwards and ram __them if you have to!"_ Marc winced at that order. Given the Darts forward velocity, even a reinforced forward shield arc might not save the pilot. They'd lose as many as they took out.

"_...in forty seconds or we're dead!"_

"_What, are you kidding me?"_

"_No!"_

"_Cause I can't help but thinking we're reaching the point which I completely snap!"_

"_Rodney!"_

"_He got past me. They are too fast!"_

"_Stow it! Come about, just pick a target and take it out!"_ That sounded like Kappa leader.

"_Taking my shot!"_ There was a brief pause in the pilot's transmission. _"Damn it, I only winged __him!"_

"_...should do it. Fire it up!"_

"_That didn't do it."_

"_What"_

"_It is not working"_ Marc's mind raced for the voice's name... Teyla

"_Yeah, I know what she said!"_

"_Twenty seconds!" _Weir sounded frantic.

"_Scratch two more!"_

"_Nice shooting Lambda Two!"_

Marc glanced at his LIDAR display. The Perseus fighters were whittling down the Darts but not

fast enough. "Come on, come on!" He growled in frustration.

"_Okay, okaaaaay... Try it now!"_

"_Yes!"_

Even at this range, Marc's sensors detected a massive power surge within the city, as the shield system came online. Even with just guessing, he was pretty sure that their shield could handle the kamikaze Darts. "This is Colonel Winters to all interceptors. Break off pursuit and avoid the city. Do not risk following the Darts into that shield!"

"_Acknowledged!"_

"_Breaking off"_

"_Climbing, sir!"_

A few seconds after the shield was up, Darts rammed into it en masse causing an explosive bloom large enough to obscure the city from the sensors on Marc's fighter. It took a second or two for the energy levels to come down again, and then Marc clearly detected that the city was still there and very much intact.

* * *

**GTCC **_**Justice's**_** Combat Information Centre**

"_Atlantis, this is Sheppard, come in."_ No one replied to his hail. _"Atlantis!" Still no reply. _"_Elizabeth ... I repeat ... This is Sheppard. What is your status?"_

Hurrying over to one of the sensor control consoles, Takase leaned in over the shoulder of the officer in charge and quickly keyed in a sequence of commands.

"_We're still here. That's our status."_ The _Justice's_ powerful sensor suite focused in on Atlantis's location and indicated an intact city and functioning shield. Elizabeth's signal was a little static-filled but she could definitely hear her.

"_Don't scare me like that!"_

"_Sorry."_ Weir apologized, relief obvious her voice as well. _"What about the Wraith fleet?"_

"The remaining cruisers have been neutralized, Elizabeth." Takase explained calmly.

"_Thank you, Admiral. Thank all of you."_

"You are most welcome, Elizabeth." Takase smiled and nodded to herself. A rough beginning to a new alliance, but Takase definitely felt it was something worth building on.

* * *

**Drifting above Lantea**

Going through the required steps of a second engine restart attempt, Lorne frowned underneath his flight helmet mask. Again, there was no joy. With the primary computer controls down, it was difficult to tell at what stage the restart attempts were failing. Add to that the fact that his radio was only working spottily, and the Major knew he was in for a long day.

On the plus side, the orbit path his fighter was on seem relatively stable so he wasn't like to burn up in the atmosphere before the _Daedalus_ located him on sensors. It was just a matter of time and patience. And he had to admit the view was phenomenal. If the situation was different, he would be more than happy to break out oils and canvas to capture the grandeur of the sight below him.

The sight above was impressive as well, but for a completely different reason. As far as he could see were ships and wreckage. This is what he imagined the aftermath of the Battle of Endor from the _Return of the Jedi_ would have looked like. Awesome and at the same time tragic.

A choppy signal over the radio jarred him from his thoughts_. "… is Nanny Three to… fighter. Do_

_you… assistance?"_

"Nanny Three, this is Blue Leader. I read you and yes, assistance would be appreciated." He replied with a relieved grin.

"_Acknowledged… Leader. ETA… recovery thirty seconds."_

* * *

**Bridge of the USS **_**Daedalus**_

"We're going to stay in geosynchronous orbit for the time being." Caldwell stated calmly, the stress of combat beginning to fade. "Can we be of any further assistance?"

"_We could use some help with the Wraith in the city."_

"We'll send in some people to help with that. _Daedalus_ out." Caldwell moved over to John and nodded slightly. "Major Sheppard, I'm sure you're anxious to get back to Atlantis."

"Yes sir."John offered the man a small genuine smile. "Thank you."

"I'll let the Admiral know the status of our guest, once medical advised me of his condition."

To Be Continued


	12. Chapter 12

**Atlantis's Infirmary**

Getting an updated list of his men's injuries, Colonel Ryan stood a few feet from the entrance to the infirmary and finished skimming the info as one of Everett's men, Major Sheppard, entered. With a friendly smile, Ryan sauntered over and nodded. "Welcome back, Major Sheppard. I understand that you get to claim one of the Hive ship kills. Good job, son." The older bald officer grinned approvingly and clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Thank you, sir," Sheppard replied uneasily, clearly uncomfortable with Ryan direct manner. "How did your men fare against the Wraith, sir?"

"I'd say as well as can be expected, given that this is a first time engaging a new enemy. A couple men were stunned or grabbed, but I think our body armour prevented those Wraith having any easy feedings." Thinking back to the earlier skirmishes, Ryan frown, remembering how those Wraith things tried to feed off a few of his troops. Ugly as they were, they died like anything else hit by a gauss rifle's shredder round.

"That's good to know, sir. Do you think we could get the specs for that armour for our own troops?"

"There's no harm in asking the Admiral. I certainly wouldn't want to face them with inadequate equipment. No offence intended, Major." Ryan chuckled gruffly and raised his hands slightly.

"None taken, sir." Sheppard smiled awkwardly.

"You should know that we found your Colonel and his squad in one of the outer corridors. It looks like they had a rough time of it." The colonel's amusement smile faded quickly when he thought about how Everett looked. He had seen a lot of terrible ways to go, some which still sometimes haunted his dreams. But what happened to that man. . . . Ryan shuddered involuntarily. He didn't know if living through it was a miracle or a curse.

Stopping outside of a screened off bed, Ryan nodded solemnly at the major. Slipping back the curtain, John took a spot at Everett's side while the colonel waited a few paces behind him. The sight was one he hoped to never see again. When Ryan first met Everett, he had been a healthy man in his late forties, early fifties, in excellent physical condition. Now the man lying in the hospital bed looked at least thirty years older, very weak; his right hand lying on his chest and shaking uncontrollably.

"You...uh, wanted to see me, Colonel?" Sheppard sounded ill at ease and rightly so.

"What's our status?" Everett's voice sounded tired and lacked his usual authority.

"We've neutralised the Hive Ships, activated the shields, and, uh, we've mustered as many people as we can, making sure there's no Wraith hiding in the shadows"

"Good work, Major."

"Thank you, sir."

"They're shipping me out with the next batch of wounded." Everett exhaled slowly, his breathing somewhat laboured. "I wanna finish our conversation." His tone lost its former confident strength and now seemed almost broken and defeated.

This was clearly a private matter and thus no concern of Ryan's. Giving Everett a respectful nod, Ryan slid the curtain back into place and then walked away to give the men a measure of privacy. He wasn't sure if he would have come to like the Atlantis colonel, but he certainly respected him. These people fought on even when vastly outnumbered and outgunned. That said a lot in his book.

* * *

_**GTCC Justice**_**'s Combat Information Center**

Resting in her command chair, her back starting to ache from muscle tension, Admiral Takase nodded to two of her damage control specialists who had just finished their status report. "Alright, gentlemen. Proceed with the repairs as you see fit. I'd like an update in two hours." She smiled tiredly, and nodded again. "Dismissed."

As the two engineers walked away, her XO, Harrison stopped a few feet away and waited. "Ma'am."

"Were we able to recover all the pods, Captain?" Akane's hopeful voice didn't quite reflect the expression in her eyes. Combat was ugly and escape pods became easy pickings for a ruthless enemy. Too many lives had already been lost today. The image of the _Mackenzie King_ ramming that Wraith Cruiser played over in her mind. She knew that Lallamant's heroic sacrifice probably saved her own ship and the thousands of lives aboard, but she hated the price: the loss of a fine ship and a man who was, by all counts, a terrific officer.

"Yes ma'am. The Wraith Darts were either too busy to target them or simply uninterested, thank God. Until we do a full head count, we won't know if they all made it off the _King_, but initial numbers look promising. Our fighters have begun landing, and we've even recovered a couple of the damaged. . . ." He paused to look up the term on the data pad he carried, ". . . .F302 fighters. I assume that they will want their pilots and planes returned as soon as possible."

Akane smiled happily at the news that the crew of the _Mackenzie King_ had been rescued. With the crew from the Jaguar aboard as well, things would be more than a little cramped until they could spread out between the remaining ships. Of course, the city below might relieve the burden, assuming that these Atlantis folks kept their word. Shaking her head, she sighed.

"That will have to wait until our recovery operations are done. Give their people access to treatment if there are any injuries, as well as a hot meal and place to rest. Barrack them with some of the pilots for now, and make sure our people understand that, while they are our guests, they are not to be given free run of the ship." Akane shifted, trying to stretch a small kink in her lower back. The motion eased the tension a little, but not much. Grimacing, she stood and schooled her face back to a cool neutral expression. "What about the fighters from the _King_?"

"For now, they are landing on those nearby ships which have hangar facilities. I'd recommend that we split them up to back fill any holes we have in the other squadrons." Harrison added gruffly, his body language indicating that he was at least as tired as she was.

"Not ideal." Akane frowned, shaking her head. "They won't want to be broken up; at least not this soon after losing their base ship." Thinking on the situation in silence for a while, Akane weighed the needs of the fleet against the morale and effectiveness of the squadron. "I suppose we could make them Atlantis's combat air patrol."

Harrison snorted and nodded reluctantly. "I don't like the idea of losing a fleet squadron, but it makes sense. Add setting up an airfield to the mainland projects." He keyed in some notes onto his data pad.

"Don't worried, Roland." She chuckled softly. "You are not on my list for heading up the ground base." Akane knew her XO well enough to know that the last thing the man wanted was to be become a ground pounding desk jockey.

"Good to know, Admiral." Harrison smirked

"Admiral" Ensign Bates called politely from her station to Takase's left. When the Admiral looked over and made eye contact, she continued. "You have an incoming comm. from Colonel Caldwell on the _Daedalus_. The channel is coded for video link, if you wish."

"Thank you, Ensign." Takase replied, with a nod. "Route it to my office."

* * *

**Atlantis Control Room**

Walking back into the Control Room, John still felt a little green in the gills from his chat with Everett. The whole situation was surreal. In the span of few hours, John had seen Everett go from a powerful, blunt pain in the ass to a weak shattered shell of a man, and as much as he hated to admit it, the experience had left him with rattlers in the gut. Despite the glib façade he used concerning matters involving the Wraith, he was never really at ease with their amoral predatory nature. It was one think to know that they wanted to suck the life out of everyone on Earth, but something else completely to see the effects on someone he knew.

"How did things go with Colonel Everett, John?" Elizabeth asked softly offering him a consoling look.

John smiled briefly, trying to come up with a witty quip to lighten the mood but none came to mind. "It was…" The half formed smiled faltered and fell. "…not something I had ever wanted to see again."

She nodded slowly and reached out towards him for a moment before pulling her hand back and clenching it slightly. At her gesture, John tensed. His feelings at odds, he frowned. Part him wished that she hadn't tried to comfort him. Things between them were confusing enough without adding new emotional layers to the mix. Yet, another side of him wished she hadn't pulled back. She obviously needed a friend as much as him at the moment. The danger from the Wraith might have passed, but they had no way of knowing how many lives had been lost. How many had been taken by Dart culling beams, only to be killed when the crafts were shot down? How many more withered husks of people they knew would be found as the city was searched?

Forcing his frown away, John wracked his brain for something positive; happy to relate. "Oh, by the way… they managed to beam Captain Lallemant off his ship as it was going up." He offered with a hint of a grin.

"What?" Elizabeth gasped in shock and awe. "Phillip's alive?"

* * *

_**GTCC Justice**_**'s Combat Information Center**

"You managed to rescue Captain Lallemant?" Takase explained in amazement.

"Correct, Admiral." Colonel Caldwell confirmed coolly, a hint of annoyance crossing the face on the video link. "When we realized what he appeared to be doing, I ordered my people to beam out anyone still on board. We would have had him out sooner, but something about your ship's armour system interferes with Asgard beaming technology. We were only able to get a clean lock after its collision caused a power disruption."

"You and your people have my most sincere thanks, Colonel." She offered warmly. The loss of the _Mackenzie King_ was bad enough. The news that her Captain had survive would bolster morale across the fleet. "What is the Captain's condition?"

"Not good I'm afraid. Our doctor tells me that he must have gotten knocked around quite badly before we were able to extract him." Caldwell's stoic expression broke, becoming more sympathetic as he continued. "He suffered significant head trauma and is currently in a medically induced coma to reduce swelling of the brain. Unfortunately, the facilities on the _Daedalus_ are limited and keeping him here long term is less than ideal. We'd like to beam him over to your ship, as I'm guessing your medical facilities would be better suited for long term care."

Takase frowned at the diagnosis and nodded slowly. "Yes… yes I understand. Thank you, Colonel. I'll make arrangements with our medical ship, the GTMF Gray to receive Captain Lallemant. And know that her medical staff and facilities will be available for you and your men as well should the need arise."

"Thank you, Admiral. I'll keep that in mind." Caldwell replied congenially. "Now speaking of my men, what is the status of Major Lorne and…"

* * *

**_GTCC Justice_'s Main Fighter Hangar**

Stepping down from the ramp of Nanny Three after his Combat Systems Officer, Lorne looked around at the controlled chaos of the hangar deck and grinned. To say that this was cool would be an understatement... Ships and craft—fighters, shuttles, what he guessed were service or work vehicles, and yet more—surrounded him. Dozens, if not hundreds, of men and women in varied uniforms moved between the ships. It didn't take long for Lorne to start separating the groups. Pilots wore metallic grey flight suits, technicians and deck crew in orangey-red coveralls, Marines in camouflage armour, and officers in dark blue naval service uniforms.

The sound of heavy garage-like doors opening drew his attention back to Nanny Three. The Toro Class Repair & Re-arm Ship, as he had been told it was called, looked basically like a squat rectangular box with engines and a cockpit; little more than a small flying hangar. In fact the front and rear ends could be opened wide to the vacuum of space to allow for fighters who overshot their approach speed to fly straight through. But once they had towed his fighter inside, the doors closed and the atmosphere quickly reinstated. While a couple techs secured his 302, a medic had been on hand to look him over. The entire process was clearly well practiced and very reassuring. Lorne stood back and watched as set of massive lifting arms lowered from the ceiling of the _Justice_ Hangar and positioned themselves by the 302. A hazy blue field crackled around the damaged bird, and she floated ungracefully up a few feet. The powerful arms slowly withdrew the Nanny's open hangar, taking his bird with them. Once the

302 was safely clear, Nanny Three's hangar doors closed again, and her engines began to thrum as they powered back up.

"Major Lorne? Lieutenant Gonzalez? "

Turning, he saw a young man in his twenties wearing the dark blue uniform of an officer and carrying a small datapad in his left hand. As Lorne turned, the young man snapped him a smart salute, his expression the picture of military discipline and respect. The very earnestness of the man made Lorne smile, but only for a moment before he returned the man's salute.

"Ensign Crowley, sirs. I've been asked to see your needs." Crowley stated crisply. "As per the Admiral's orders, your fighter is berthed separately from the others and will be left alone and untampered with beyond any instructions you may have given to Nanny Three's deck crew. Bunks have been available to both you and Lieutenant Gonzalez in one of the pilot's barracks. If that is unacceptable then I'll see what other arrangement can be made. If you are hungry, I can show you to the pilot's mess. Also your base ship has been made aware of your pickup, and we can arrange a comm. channel be opened if you wish to check in with your CO."

Lorne blinked at the Ensign's take no prisoners' manner of explaining things. "Thank you, Ensign. I think you covered everything I could think to ask." He paused for a moment to consider things. "I understand that Captain Anders' 302 was brought aboard as well?"

"Yes Sir." Crowley nodded. "His fighter took more severe damage to yours. Left wing and engine lost." Crowley glanced at his datapad for a second then nodded. "They were severed by Wraith weapons fire according to sensor assessment. The Captain was found unconscious, and both he and his CSO were moved to the sick-bay for assessment. Our doctors didn't find concerning trauma and he has already woken up. He should be released for observation within an hour."

"That's good." Lorne smiled softly, glad to hear that Anders would be fine.

"Was there anything else, Major?"

Lorne smile fainted and nodded sternly. "Actually, yes. I need to file a grievance against one of your pilots. Someone nearly collided with me after shooting down the Dart I was engaging."

"It sounds like that pilot probably saved you." A female voice behind him explained coldly. "Normally the appropriate response is to say thank you."

Lorne turned around to see a beautiful blonde woman with the bluest eyes wearing a form fitting flight suit. A quick glance at the nametag stitched over her left breast reviewed her name to be Mitchell. Raising a brow, he considered the smouldering anger in her eyes.

"And I would certainly thank the pilot had I been in trouble." He replied neutrally. "I had been engaging the enemy fighter, not the other way around. The fact of the matter is that I was moments away from a weapons lock on the Dart myself when one of your fellow pilots shot down that craft, nearly taking me along with it. That pilot risked both our lives and our crafts to steal a kill."

"We don't 'steal kills', Major!" She snapped angrily, what little self-restraint she had before all but vanished. "This isn't some game to us. Maybe your people haven't been out here long enough to understand that."

Lorne just grinned. A tight grin accompanied by a slight narrowing of his eyes. Only those who knew him well recognized the signs of anger. "Oh, we've been out here long enough to understand." He stepped forward, holding her angry gaze as he did so. "You and your men might play this little game, for lack of a better way of putting it. This might be all in a day's work to each of you. But it's not to us. It's 'our' people and 'our' planet at risk. I'm sorry if I don't understand your pilots' disregard for those fighting with them."

"And how many of your men died out there, Major?" She gestured wildly with sharp movements. "How many of your friends will be covered by a black flag, today? It seems to me that it was a lot more of own blood being spilled for your planet! I'll grant you that this is your fight, and honestly you can damn well have it. If I had my way, we'd have left you and your planet to burn the moment the fighting started."

"Then why didn't you?" Lorne shrugged. "Orders? Or your sense of duty to humanity, even if it's not your own? Or was it your superior attitude that wanted to prove that you're better than we are?" All the while, he remained perfectly contained, still, and motioned only with his hands. Other than the forceful tone of his voice, he allowed no sign of his anger to escape.

"I honestly don't know why we helped you." She growled with clenched teeth. "You're right. You aren't our responsibility. You came out here on your own. You made enemies on your own. And frankly you should be cleaning up your own mess on your own. But the Admiral thinks differently, and right or wrong, her's are the only opinions that matters in the end. So yes, we were following orders, and we will continue to do so. But don't think for a moment that we are doing so out of friendship or so noble ideal. Our humanity learned long ago that we are not the end all of all creation. That save the universe crap went out the airlock all long time ago."

"I never said we were the end-all, be-all of the universe." For the life of him, Lorne found himself actually enjoying the argument. He refused to ponder whether it was because the argument relieved his own anger and tension or because he just liked seeing this woman so riled up. "And, for the record, we weren't trying to save the universe. Just ourselves and our world." He grinned. "Saving the universe comes after that."

Shaking her head, she snorted and crossed her arms across her chest. "It sounds like your people need a damn reality check. I just wonder if it will take fourteen years of war and hundreds of bombs falling on your worlds to wipe the smirk grin off your face." With that she turned and stormed off.

"She's certainly passionate." The normally quiet Gonzalez said offhandedly.

Lorne nodded absently as he watched her leave. He was torn between grinning like a fool and asking what she meant about fourteen years of war. If the way she felt was indicative of the rest of the GTA personnel, this alliance would be tenuous at best.

To Be Continued…


	13. Chapter 13

**Atlantis's Control Room**

The shimmering puddle of the incoming gate connection rippled again as more Athosian families returned from the Alpha site. While many of men had stayed on Atlantis to help defend the city of the Ancestors, those with young children or the infirm had left in case the Wraith had succeeded to take the city. Standing at the base of the stairs, Teyla smiled warmly at those coming home and offered many a hug or an affectionate touch on the shoulder. With the crisis now past, she hoped that everyone could return to their homes on the mainland and a semblance of normality.

As the last family stepped through the gate, Teyla nodded to the security detail before heading up the stairs. Entering the control room proper, she noted with a small measure of surprise that Rodney was already awake and working. He had been exhausted nearly to the point of collapse six hours earlier, and that fact that he was out of bed stunned her. According to Major Sheppard, if sleeping were a sporting event, McKay would be an Olympic medalist. Initially, that statement merely confused her, but, after a long discussing about Earth games, she thought she understood the significance.

Walking over to the station where Rodney worked, Teyla glanced over his shoulder at the readouts on his laptop screen. "I didn't think that you would be back to work so soon, Rodney"

With a small yelp, Rodney sprang up in his seat suddenly in his seat, his eyes wide. "Argh! Don't… do that!"

"I apologize, Rodney," she offered gently, a hint of an amused smile threatening to ruin the effort. "I did not mean to startle you."

"Well you did!" He huffed dramatically. "Gah… you probably took two years off my life! Who needs coffee when you have Teyla sneaking around, scaring the wits out of you?"

Rolling her eyes, she declined to response to his theatrics. Teyla schooled her face back to a calm neutral state before speaking again. "Well since you are clearly awake, perhaps you should go look in on Lt. Ford. I'm sure he will want his friends around when he awakens."

Rodney scowled up at her for moment. "First of all, Ford and I are not friends. He's just an annoying jarhead that I'm stuck on a team with. And secondly…" He paused, his expression suddenly changing to a look of concern as her words sunk in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… what happened to him? Is he okay?"

"Aiden was attacked by a Wraith warrior and gravely injured," she said solemnly, her expression dipping towards sadness. "He is alive and being cared for, but Doctor Beckett is unsure whether he will be able to recover."

"What? No… Ford's tough and everything. He'll be fine, wouldn't he?" he stuttered uncomfortably, his hands gesturing erratically. "It's not like he was fed on or something," Rodney added, hopefully.

"Rodney, the Wraith…" Teyla began but was cut off unexpectedly by an alarm sounding from on the consoles. "What is it?"

Looking over at the console, he looked momentarily perplexed. "That's warning alarm program I created for deep space sensors." Furthering over, he tapped a few hurried inputs and then turned white as a sheet. "Oh no…"

Seeing the terror on his face, Teyla own heart began to race. "Rodney, what is it?"

Ignoring her question, he tapped his radio. "Elizabeth. Major Sheppard."

After a moment, Doctor Weir responded. _"What is it?"_

There was no hiding the worry in Rodney's voice. "You're gonna want to get up here."

* * *

_**GTCC Justice**_** - Admiral Takase's personal quarters**

Stretched out on her sofa, and dressed in thick white bath robe, Akane was still pleasantly damp from the long hot shower she had allowed herself. The past few days had been harrowing, and, between short naps and hurried meals, she had not really had any real down time in what felt like forever. A pile of data pads lay on her small coffee table, containing everything from detailed damage reports to casualty lists to preliminary site surveys for the land base. All of which she knew she had to read eventually but couldn't bring herself to do it. In the background, the sounds of soft instrumental jazz filled her cabin, and the soft cushions of the sofa tempted to lull her into some well-earned sleep. Her eyes had just closed when her communicator buzzed.

"Nooooooo." Despite her protest, the unit continued to buzz, demanding her attention. "Damn it." Sitting up, she threw a small squishy stress ball at the computer controls with well-practiced accuracy, turning off the music. Sighing to release the irritation in her voice, she activated the communications channel. "Takase, go."

"Admiral, long range sensors detect what we believe to be twelve more Hive ships on approached to Atlantis. At current course and speed, the ETA is in thirty six hours."

"Sonofabitch!" Twelve more ships! Two of those things had been hard enough. Twelve could see her entire fleet destroyed. Thinking for a moment, she squeezed her eyes closed and gritted her teeth. With a sigh, Akane released the tension and stood up. "Ready a shuttle. I'm going down to the planet personally." Standing up slowly, she glumly walked over to her wardrobe to pick out a fresh uniform.

* * *

_**GTCC Justice – **_**Pilot's Lounge**

"So then he said to the General, _'Yes sir, but only everything other weekend.'_"

Sitting with the small group of GTA pilots, Lorne burst out laughing along with the rest of them. The last six hours or so hours had been more fun than he'd had in a long time. There was something to be said about the camaraderie between fellow pilots that even three hundred plus year's difference could not undo. It reminded Lorne so much of his fighter squadron days back before he joined the SGC. The friendship, the rivalry and competition, the jokes and the trash talk. All things he found he missed. Even though he was an outsider, they had welcomed him into the group and engaged him into their informal banter.

Grinning in amusement, Lorne noticed the hatch to the lounge area slide open with a slight hiss and saw another pilot poke his head inside.

"There a Major Lorne in here?" The newcomer queried over the noise of the room.

"Here." He gestured to the man, before standing up. "I'm Lorne."

"Major, there's a shuttle leaving down to the city in five minutes. If you want it, there's a seat available for you." The man offered with a casual smile.

Part of him longed to stay up here and spend more time getting to know their guys. Aside from his ugly run in with Lt Mitchell, he found the GTA personnel to be friendly and easy to talk to. With a small forlorn sigh, he nodded to the man. Duty called and it was time to get back to it. Finishing the last of his drink, he grinned at his new would-be friends.

"Sorry, all. Looks like it's time for me to get back to my people. If you guys get down to the city, look me up while you are there." Lorne offered them a friendly two fingered salute and a grin.

"Safe home, Major" "Yeah, Evan, stay out of trouble." "Cheers, man"

Leaving the pilot's lounge, he quickly retrieved his kit before following the pilot to the appropriate hangar. Riding down in the elevator, he was glad the man was willing to show him where to go. The ship was huge and, even though he had been aboard a short while, it had been enough to know that he didn't want to wander around with a good map. "So…" He said softly. "…you taking the shuttle out or are you just playing tour guide?"

The man chuckled and smirked. "Actually, sir, I'm co-pilot on this hop. Lieutenant JG Mike Graham as your service." After a small nod, he offered Lorne a hand.

"Good to know, Graham." Shaking the LT's hand, he nodded back. "So is this a milk run flight, or are you heading down for something special?"

"Priority run, sir." Graham stated matter of factly. "The Admiral wants to go meet with some of your people's brass."

Lorne instinctively straightened at the mention of the fleet's flag officer being on the shuttle as well. Normally he didn't worry about being around high level brass. The generals associated with the SGC were a lot more relaxed than other upper ups. General O'Neill, in fact, was downright flippant at times. The problem was there was no way to predict what kind of person the admiral was. From what he had seen on the ship, there was a definite distinction between the marines; both the ground forces and aviation core, and fleet personnel. The naval officers seemed more spit and polish than their marine counterparts.

Arriving at the hangar, he followed Graham to the waiting shuttle. As approached, he noticed a petite, attractive, middle-aged Asian in a severe naval uniform conversing with a tall white-haired Caucasian man in standard naval service uniform. Graham stopped a few feet back from the pair and stood at attention; Lorne immediately followed his lead.

"…Understand. I'll have an updated SitRep waiting for you when you get back, Admiral." The white hair man stated then gave her a nod before departing.

As she turned towards them, both he and Graham automatically gave her a crisp formal salute. She looked at the both of them, and a wisp of a smile played across her lips before she saluted them back. "At ease, gentlemen." Her voice was soft yet clear and strong. It reminded Lorne of fine silk. "I take it that you are Major Lorne?"

"Yes, ma'am." He replied in crisp, quick fashion.

"Nice to meet you, Major." She smiled warmly. Turning to the other, she spoke slightly louder "Lt Graham, take us to Atlantis." Not waiting for a response, she boarded the shuttle and disappeared out of view.

Graham pointed towards the waiting hatch, and Lorne relaxed a little. Clearly now was not the time for formalities. Climbing up into the shuttle, he made his way back into the passenger compartment as Graham headed towards the cockpit. Looking around, he saw that, aside from the Admiral, the compartment was empty. She sat on the right side, a few rows from the front and in the window seat. Lorne furrowed his brow and wondered where he should sit. Sit too far away and it could be awkward if she wanted to talk. Sit too near, and it could be taken as presumptuous and rude. Luckily, the Admiral solved the dilemma for him.

"Relax Major. You are not an officer tied to my command, and, even if you had been, I wouldn't bite." She chuckled softly and smiled disarmingly. "Sit where ever you like. This isn't a field test."

"Thank you, ma'am." Perhaps this won't be so bad of a flight after all.

* * *

**Atlantis Conference Room**

The tension climbed as those gathered frowned at each other. When Admiral Takase arrived unexpectedly, John knew that shit was about to hit the proverbial fan. At first glance, he knew better than to underestimate her. Quite striking, dare he say beautiful, she possessed the eyes of a career soldier and a veteran who had see many battles. Even Colonel Caldwell recognized that he needed to tread lightly with her.

"Twelve Hive ships?" Cadwell paced the room like a caged animal. Whether it was the approaching Wraith or the petite yet authoritative Admiral that had him on edge was difficult to say.

"It's highly likely that they called for reinforcement after they initially detected my fleet. I know I would have, had I been in their position," Takase stated coolly, her expression reserved and difficult to read.

"Our research shows there are at least sixty hive ships in this galaxy. I mean, who knows how many more could be on the way?" McKay explained sullenly.

"Well, your shield is up and running. You'll be protected if I am forced to withdrawn the fleet," Takase admitted unhappily. John didn't think she was the type to run from a fight, but he knew she had to think about the lives aboard her ships.

Shaking his head, McKay advised bitterly. "That only buys us time."

"I like time!" John quipped back.

"Look, the first siege of Atlantis lasted for years." Rodney explained, straight to the point. "I mean, with only one functioning ZedPM, we can't expect to hold on that long."

"Can we submerge the city again?" Caldwell interjected.

That earned a surprised look from the Admiral. Obviously Elizabeth hadn't mentioned that part during their little chat.

Rodney sighed in frustration. "It's a city, not a yo-yo. Look, I don't even know how they did it the first time."

"How long until they arrive?" Caldwell asked looking over at Elizabeth. He seemed resigned to the idea of a losing battle.

"A little over a day," Elizabeth stated with equal resignation

Getting up, John walked over to the monitor showing the data feed from long range sensors. "You know what?" He turned back to the rest, and huffed. "I'm sick of this."

"I'm sorry?" Elizabeth looked taken back by his words, but the Admiral just sort of smiled.

"I mean, sitting around waiting for them to show up." John explained firmly. "I say we take the fight to them."

"Major, as much as I understand and agree with your sentiment, my ships are not at full strength, and, even if they were, I doubt we would last very long in a direct confrontation," Takase explained diplomatically, leaning forward, her folded hands resting on the top of the conference table.

"So we don't fight fair," John replied quickly, picking up steam. "We've got one ship with an Asgard shield, an armoury full of nukes, and beaming technology. All we need to do is keep them distracted so that the _Daedalus_ can work with interference. That evens the odds a hell of a lot."

"Twelve ships and their escorts," Caldwell stated firmly.

Moving away from the monitor, Sheppard moved into the screen of the room. "I'm telling you, we've gotta send these guys a message. We're not like the Ancients; we're not gonna sit around and wait. We don't back off. We have the capacity and the will to go kick their asses for a change."

"How do I fight a ship in hyperspace?" Caldwell asked, slowing coming around.

"The Wraith faster-than-light travel is not as efficient as the Asgard hyperdrive aboard the _Daedalus_." McKay explained as he activated a screen to show the predicted route of the Wraith fleet. "Not only are they slower, they need to travel in a series of jumps. So, if my calculations are correct," his self assured smile plainly indicated that he was that they were, "they'll make one last stop here." Rodney indicated a point on the screen. "Fifty light years away, before they make the final jump to Atlantis.

"Doctor Weir?" Caldwell inquired obviously wanting her input.

Elizabeth considered for a moment, and then looked at John and Admiral Takase. "It will feel good to have them on the defensive for a change."

Takase nodded and rose to her feet. "While I don't feel comfortable sending in the whole fleet with you for this operation, I will put the fleet's corvettes and destroyers at your disposal." Waving her right hand over her left forearm, she brought up her mini-comp and keyed in a few commands. "They may not have the firepower of a cruiser, but they have the speed and agility to perform harrying attacks to keep the enemy occupied." The mini-comp beeped and flashed after a moment and she smiled deviously. "In the meantime, I think we should prepare a proper welcome for the Wraith, should any of them slip the net."

"Alright then." Sheppard nodded to Elizabeth. "Let's do this."

* * *

_**GTCC Justice's**_** Main Fighter Hangar**

There had only been a few times when Colonel Winters had ever seen a ship's hangar bay this full, and then, as now, it had always been after a battle had gone badly. Aside from the _Justice's_ normal compliment of fighters, bombers and auxiliary crafts, he saw a large number of escape pods, some fighters previously assigned to the _Mackenzie King_ and even two planes from the Earth-ship _Daedalus_. But the most jarring sight was the bodies. A section of the hangar deck had been cleared away and the recovered bodies of fallen comrades were arranged neatly in rows on the deck. The Galactic Terran Alliance flag covered each body; a field of black bearing the gold crescent moon-star on a silver horizontal swoosh like the rings of Saturn. What was to become of them? Normally they would be shipped home so that they could be laid to rest; so that families could mourn and find some degree of closure. But here? Now? Marc wasn't sure that home would ever be an option again.

"I hate that sight."

Marc looked around from where he stood to find the source of the comment. Spotting the finely lined face of Master Sergeant Maximoff, he smiled softly. A handsome woman in her mid-forties, she served on the ship's fighter/bomber repair crew and highly respected all around.

"It's not the first time you've seen this, Sergeant, and I very much doubt it will be your last." Marc stated solemnly.

"No, sir, I doubt it will be, but, either way, I don't have to like it." She frowned and shook her head, her arms folded across her chest in displeasure. "Do you think it was worth it, Colonel?"

In all the time he had worked with her, Marc have never known Maximoff to question one of the Admiral's decisions. "What do you mean, Sergeant?"

"Well sir, I mean us sticking our noses into someone else's fight. I know that the Admiral would never commit us to anything without thinking it through, but this feels wrong." The Sergeant scowled, her voice edged with hints of anger. "This isn't a GTA world we are protecting. They might be human, but they aren't our people. Back home, if some hair brained group of idiots leaves GTA space and gets themselves attacked, we don't send in the cavalry. It took only a few border skirmishes that escalated into full-out wars for us to learn to not play hero."

"Tatyana, I know you probably lost some friends today. We all have, but we have to look at the big picture," Marc explained softly. The big picture was how he had schooled himself to see things. Special Operations Command and Galactic Terran Intelligence had called upon him to do some pretty terrible things; ugly things that he hated. But in the big picture, those acts accomplished a greater good. Used correctly, a single shot could end a war before it started. "These people may have means to get us home. They have information that can help us survive out here. If we had let them be wiped out, we lose that window of opportunity."

"And if there was another way?" The woman frowned, staring him down.

He sighed softly and gave her a small shrug. "Then we that history doesn't judge us too harshly in the end."

To be continued…


	14. Chapter 14

**Deep Space - Fifty Light years away from Atlantis **

The relative peace and tranquility of an unassuming planetary system was disrupted as green-white energy vortices suddenly appears, disgorging the _USS Daedalus_ and her new escorts back into normal space. The ships slowed and, on the bridge of _Daedalus, _Colonel Caldwell and Major Sheppard watched as the three GTA corvettes glided past to take point. At one hundred nineteen meters in length, they were shorter than the USAF battle cruiser by nearly half and only sixty meters wide. Frankly, this pleased the Colonel as all the larger ships started giving him a complex. As the three two-hundred-eighty-eight-meter-long destroyers formed up around his ships, that complex threatened to manifest. Barely an hour ago, Admiral Takase placed the GTCvs Serval, Daimondback, and Barracuda, and the GTDss Komodo, Mako and Kodiak under his nominal command for the duration of this mission.

The encoded communications channel beeped, and Steven opened the line, swiveling to his left to view the monitor as the face-to-face video signal arrived. On the display, a fiery red-haired man in his mid-thirties with laughing eyes despite a nasty scar which ran at a slant across his lips and half way up his left cheek appeared. _"Colonel, this is Captain O'Byrne upon the _Mako_. All ships have successfully jumped, and we are now proceeding with low powered operations."_

"Understood, Captain." Steven nodded coolly. "We'll signal when we detect the enemy's arrival. _Daedalus_ out." As much as he disliked the idea of working with non-United States forces, he had to admit he was pleasantly surprised by how readily these people fell into line after their Admiral put him in command.

"Scanners are clear, sir." Captain Kleinman advised. "No contacts."

"I hope we're on the right spot." Caldwell admitted cautiously.

"They'll be here. I've learned to trust Rodney about these things." Sheppard replied confidently. "Though to be honest, I was really hoping that the Admiral would have put a couple of their big guns along for the ride. These ships look a little… puny."

"Actually, Major, the Admiral was kind enough to send me some information on these ships before we left. After looking it over, I think I see what she had in mind." Steven stated as he got up from his command chair. Moving over to one of the bridge computers, he called up the info he had been sent, starting with the Artemis class Corvette. "These corvettes are apparently designed for hit-and-run tactics behind enemy lines. They have some sort of stealth technology as part of their design and use that, plus their speed, to do their job. Think of them as attack submarines versus a surface fleet."

"If you say so, sir. My knowledge of naval tactics is sketchy at best." Sheppard casually admitted. "What about the destroyers?"

Pushing a few buttons, the profile on the screen switched to an overview of the Ares class Destroyer. "They are the sub hunters of a fleet. Fast and manoeuvrable, they apparently carry almost as much firepower as a cruiser, though they lack the ability to carry a dedicated fighter group. They are high speed interceptors and escorts." Caldwell finished. "They should be able to keep the Wraith busy while we deploy the warheads. And if things go south, they will hopefully be able to cover our escape before jumping to hyperspace as well."

* * *

**City of Atlantis – Control Room**

The last few weeks had been nothing short of amazing for Major Lorne. Granted, he had seen some pretty wild things since he joined up with the SCG, but recent events definitely topped that. Crossing from one galaxy into another on Earth's first production battlecruiser was unreal, and then fighting in a space battle along side people from the distant future was plain mind numbing. And now, he was on the legendary city of Atlantis, a place tens of thousands of years old and built by the race that created the Stargate network in, not one, but two galaxies. As he saw the beautiful city skyline from the viewport of the descending GTA shuttle, he had been so awestruck then it took the Admiral calling his name twice to snap him back to the moment.

Standing in the control room, Lorne tried to stay focused on the task at hand, as one of the expedition scientists, Doctor Zelenka, droned on about the city systems. He understood that he needed to know how things worked. Scuttlebutt said that he was to be Colonel Cadwell's second-in-command when Sheppard was officially replaced. That meant that he would likely be spending a lot of time overseeing things while the _Daedalus _was away.

Glancing over at the office across the pedway, Lorne saw that Admiral Takase, Doctor Weir and the Athosian woman, Teyla, were in the middle of some sort of discussion. Though he didn't know much about the Admiral, he had glanced over the mission files on Weir and Teyla. Both women were leaders in their own right. Doctor Weir was world renowned diplomat who had brokered a number of very important international treaties. From what the report explained, Teyla was the de facto leader of the Athosian people, a highly skilled warrior and a fairly skilled negotiator herself. Add in Admiral Takase, a cool confident career military officer; and he would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in there.

"Major, I know this is overwhelming, but you really should know this information." Zelenka chastised, bringing Lorne's attention back to the scruffy looking man.

"I got it, Doc. Power system failsafe prevents catastrophic ZPM overload." Lorne repeated back with a small smirk. The ability to mentally multi-task was a vital requirement for modern fighter pilot. One had to be able to monitor and manage systems while keeping an eye on the enemy.

Zelenka looked a bit surprised that Lorne had been paying attention and, after a moment, resumed his lecture of Atlantis infrastructure.

Looking toward the office again, Lorne carefully observe each of the women's body language. All seemed calm and relaxed, leaning slightly towards each other as they conversed. Clear signs that each of them felt comfortable and interested in what the others were saying. At the back of the office, a transparent door slid open, allowing a young African-American expedition soldier to step in and address the women. The man bopped his head apologetically and then assumed a relaxed, at-ease stance. There seemed to be an immediate change in mood as Doctor Weir's body language suddenly became tense. They conversed briefly, and then the young man was apparently dismissed, though it was clear to Lorne that the man wasn't pleased.

The Major found himself frowning as well. Something unpleasant was going down, and he was torn between asking questions and minding his own business.

After the young soldier left, Doctor Weir and Admiral Takase exited her office and crossed the short pedway into the main control room. Lorne offered Weir a friendly smile before tensing slightly when the Admiral gave him an assessing look.

"Major, I am not familiar with your command protocols, but, civilian or not, Doctor Weir is still the one in charge of this expedition." The Admiral commented teasingly. Doctor Weir immediately flushed slightly, and Lorne's face drained of all color.

"Doctor Weir, I would never…" He stammered quickly, worried about what the two women thought he meant by his smile

"You see, Elizabeth? Just as I told you." Takase chuckled in amusement.

"Don't worry, Major." Weir offered gently, her smile coy. "I'm sure that she was just having a bit of fun at your expense. The Admiral said that she was nothing be impressed with you from your short conversation on the way down here." Turning to the right, she addressed Doctor Zelenka. "Radek, the Admiral needs a secure comm line made available so she can contact one her ships. Please set it up in the conference room and then make sure she has her privacy."

"Yes Doctor Weir."

* * *

**Bridge of the **_**GTL **__**Kilimanjaro**_

Leaning casually against his ship's main communications terminal, Commander Arthur De Niro folded his arms against his barrel chest and smirked at the image of the display. "You certainly don't ask for much, do you Admiral?" It was odd to be receiving her signal from Atlantis instead of the _Justice_. Of course, she had provided the appropriate verification codes and the systems indicated that channel was secure. He knew that the Admiral would never have casually exposed the purpose of one of the fleet's most important assets.

"_Had it been someone else in command of your ship, Mister De Niro, I might have lowered my expectations, but we both know you can pull this off."_ Takase's normally cool controlled expression slipped somewhat as a friendly playful tone carried in her voice. _"You are the best logistics officer in the entire 5__th__ Fleet command, and everyone knows it."_

He chuckled, and his smirk turned into a grin. "Normally flattery would get you nowhere Admiral, but today… today I'm putty in your hands. My teams have completed primary assembly and can have them online within fifteen minutes of final positioning."

"_That's good to hear. Assuming we all come out of this alive, how difficult will it be to set up a long term depot here?_

De Niro keyed in a few inputs, adding a window full of relevant data to the channel's feed. "I ordered the Collectors to begin working the battle area as soon as the recovery operation had finished. Recycling our own debris isn't an issue but the Wraith wreckage is proving a little more troublesome. Given that their ships are mostly organic in nature, there isn't as much desirable refined material to claim. At best, we can stockpile raw proteins and other useful organics for medical and nutrient reserves."

"_What about the debris from the Ancient defence platforms?"_

"It's definitely worth a look, but it's pretty far out." He keyed up a system map, showing the locations of the destroyed Ancient Weapons Satellites in comparison to the fleet. "I'd rather not send the Resource Collectors that far away from the bulk of the fleet without a strong escort. At least until the current crisis cools down. Interestingly, there is seems to a series of thin debris belts all over the system. My guess is that they are the remains of craft from battles long ago. Given the amount of scrap in varied orbits, we could have a good amount of processed material to utilize. The downside is that a good portion of it is made up from a previously unknown substance that the Collectors aren't programmed to handle. The _GTSF Newton_ is running an analysis on the material as we speak. Assuming it turns out to be a useful compound, they should be able to add the molecular identifier to the Collectors' sorting processors."

"_Understood, Commander. Keep them close to home for now. I want to be able to jump the fleet out of here if this situation spirals out of hand."_

"Aye aye, Admiral."

"_What is situation with _Jaguar_?" _Takase asked with a frown.

"Preliminary scans indicate that as much as twenty percent of her system components should be salvage-worthy. The hull itself is twisted and buckled in several areas. If she could be towed to a proper repair facility, she could be stripped and reframed, ready for refit in as little two weeks." De Niro exhaled dramatically and rubbed his chin as he crunched some mental numbers. "Out here, we would be looking as several months' worth of work."

"_I understand that a Logistics Ship like the _Kilimanjaro_ has the ability to erect a field scaffold for ship repair work. Wouldn't that cut down the refit time?" _She asked solemnly.

"Admiral, the several months I quoted was _with_ the scaffold and a dedicated engineering team. I seriously doubt it could be done at all with less." He admitted in irritation. "It would require a safe secure location; ideally with easy access to resources. This location is hardly ideal."

"_Very well Commander. I want those engineering teams we can spare to begin the field stripping of the _Jaguar_ immediately. I do not want our technology to fall into enemy hands; in fact, I'd prefer that none of it get into the hands of the Atlantis personnel either. If need be, I want an option to scuttle the remains of that destroyer."

* * *

_

**Bridge of the Daedalus**

Standing behind Colonel Caldwell's command chair, John glanced at the readout of the predicted arrival time for the Wraith fleet. He wasn't nervous so much as anxious. There was a lot riding on this ambush. "If we can hit the first one or two as soon as they exit hyperspace, I think that'll send a message."

"Who knows…" Caldwell replied dispassionately. "…maybe they'll surrender?"

"Sir, we have a contact." Kleinman advised briskly.

"Stand by for weapons deployment." Caldwell ordered confidently. "Shields at max power."

Kleinman input the appropriate commands, before responding. "Shields up."

From where John stood, he could see the twelve hive ships as they came out of hyperspace, travelling in a standard arrow formation. In front of the _Daedalus, _the three corvettes accelerated toward the enemy ships, their engines exhaust glowing a bright blue. John knew that the powerful Asgard sensors on the ship allowed them to clearly detect those ships despite their stealth evasion systems. The question was whether the Wraith could detect their approach a well.

Colonel Caldwell watched the sensor display for a moment, waiting until the corvettes were practically right on top of the nearest Wraith Cruiser before starting phase two of the plan. Activating the internal comm, he leaned toward the receiver slightly. "Novak, this is Caldwell. Begin deployment at your discretion." Admiral Takase had sent along a small supply of Helios warheads to temporarily bolster _Daedalus's _firepower in light of the enemy's superior numbers.

There was brief delay before Novak replied back. _"First weapon away, Colonel."_

With a massive of wave of blue white energy, the rearmost Hive Ship on the right side of the arrow formation exploded. The energy wake struck its nearby escort, knocking it off course. A moment later, one of the closer Cruisers was rocked by explosions as well, the victim of close range torpedo fire from the corvettes.

"That's a kill!" Kleinman stated definitively.

"_Stand by."_ Novak stated over the channel.

On the left side of the arrow, the third Hive ship from the back exploded next with similar effects on its cruiser escorts. John saw flashes of weapons fire as the corvettes engaged the Wraith ships.

Stepping closer to the weapons control station, John watched the display over Kleinman's shoulder. "Alright, that's two."

"The other Hive ships are altering course to intercept."

The ship to ship came on as the GTA destroyers accelerated forward past the Daedalus. _"Hang back, Colonel. We'll run interfere for you."_

As the Wraith fleet approached, the destroyers opened fire with coordinated attacks. Pulse cannons and missiles peppered the nearest approaching Hive. And after a moment, the blue white streams of light beam cannon fire raked enemy ships as well.

John watched the Wraith fleet circle around them and immediately recognized the tactic. "They're flanking us."

"Forward rail guns, return fire." Caldwell issued his order with practiced efficiency. "Novak, we need to speed up the deployment of those bombs or this fight is gonna be over soon."

The _Daedalus_ began to be hammered by enemy fire, but the damage was minimal thanks to the Asgard shield technology. The GTA ships were not so lucky, and the tide of battle began to turn against them.

"_Colonel, we have a problem."_ Novak came back on the line, her voice clearly distressed. _"They've found a way to jam us from beaming onto their ships. We don't know how."_

"Rear shield emitters are down to sixty percent!" Kleinman advised hurriedly.

A console exploded in the rear of the Bridge, sending a crewmember flying. Rushing over, John helped her up before handing her to one of the medics. Other crew members hurried to extinguish the electrical fire.

"_So don't beam the bombs on board them!"_ Captain O'Byrne shouted over the ship to ship channel. "_Beam them in as closer you can in front of the Hive's flight path."_

"Like a land mine!" Sheppard added quickly.

"Ventral rail gun two is out of action!" Kleinman quickly warned

"Do it, Novak!" Caldwell ordered, but turning to face Meyers. "Main engines to max."

"Sir." She acknowledged, following the orders.

"Try keeping the damaged shield from the main force." Caldwell added quickly.

The barrage from the Wraith fleet continued, but John could see that a few of their ships were now badly damaged and out of action. Injured as they were, the destroyers and corvettes used wolf pack tactic to fight, using their superior speed to take turns performing brutal strafing attacks on nearby Hives.

"_Mine one is away"_ Novak stated quickly

There was brilliant explosion along the hull of one of the further Hive ships and when it faded, John could see that the side of the ship had sort of… crumpled. Secondary explosions rocked the Hive, and after a moment it tore itself apart.

"_Got him!"_ O'Byrne cheered.

"Sir!" Kleinman cut it suddenly. "One of the cruisers is approaching on a parallel course."

"They may intend to board us!"John shouted over the sounding alarm. "That was their strategy when they attacked Atlantis."

"Shield status?" Caldwell barked

"Under forty percent."

"_Hang in there, Daedalus. We've got him!"_ John didn't recognize the voice, but with a glance at the sensor display he could guess it had come from one of the Corvette commanders.

"_Mine two is away!"_

The second Helios warhead had been beamed into the empty space between the two arms of the forward hull for when it exploded, it torn one of them nearly off. There were smaller secondary explosions, and, instead of tearing itself apart like the other one did, the Hive started to drift, tumbling along a diagonal axis.

Between the depleted shield reserves and the rapidly closing distance between the Hives and _Daedalus_, it was obvious that using the space mine tactic would now be a threat to allied ships as well. "That's it. We've done what we can. All ships, set course for Atlantis." Caldwell ordered across ship-to-ship comm. "Engage hyperdrive."

"Hyperdrive, yes sir!" Meyers immediate keyed in commands and applied pressure to the control yokes, causing the _Daedalus_ to come about. Accelerating past the remaining enemy ships, _Daedalus_ and her escorts opened hyperspace windows and jumped.

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

**Atlantis Control Room**

Standing to the left side of Control Room, Major Lorne listened in on the after action report Colonel Caldwell was delivering via subspace radio. Standing clustered together by the communication console were Doctor Weir, Admiral Takase, Teyla and Doctor McKay.

"_We can confirm that we destroyed three of the Hive ships, maybe four. A number of their ships also took significant damage, but I doubt it was enough. The bottom line is it didn't work."_ The frustration in Colonel Caldwell's voice was obvious.

"Well, at least you gave them something to think about." Elizabeth calmly replied. Lorne was impressed by her ability to maintain her calm demeanour. Level-headed leadership was always good for morale.

"_We'll see."_ Caldwell didn't sound convinced. _"I doubt very much that that tactic will work again, and Daedalus and her escort have all sustained damage."_

"_It was still the right thing to do."_ Major Sheppard stated definitively. _"We should make it home before they do."_

"I hope so. We'll keep the porch light on for you." Closing the comm channel, Doctor Weir looked around at those gathered around her, particularly the Admiral. "OK, it looks like we will need that surprise you mentioned."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what surprise?" Rodney looked offended that he was out of the loop.

"While the _Daedalus_ and those ships we assigned to assist her were out engaging the Wraith fleet directly, I've ordered that four Mjolnir RBCs be deployed in low orbit to protect the city." Takase stated softly.

"What is an RBC?" Lorne asked out of curiosity. It was likely that the women had been cooking at least part of this plan up in their earlier meeting.

"Remote Beam Cannon." The Admiral explained slowly. "It's a heavy weapons defensive platform that can be disassembled for relocation. The Mjolnir mounts a battleship rated heavy beam cannon along with high output reactor, heavy bomber grade shields and thick armour. Normally, it is controlled from a command ship, but for the next part of my play to work, we will need to set up a control interface down here. We are also deploying as many sentry gun platforms as we can around the RBCs to defend them from Dart attack. Right now, time is the major factor against us." She explained as they began walking towards Weir's office.

"Wait, why low orbit?" Rodney's brown furrowed deeply as he worked to unravel the meaning, being the Admiral's plans. "And where will you be if you are giving the controls to us?"

"The GTA fleet with be withdrawing to hide behind the planet's moon until the Wraith arrive." Takase explained with a cunning smile. "The plan is to let the Wraith fleet enter orbit, where they will no doubt begin bombardment, before we launch our counter offensive.'

"Now Rodney, you said yourself that the shield..."

As she spoke, Lorne noticed that same African American soldier approached the group from the side. The man, whom he had learned was Lt Aiden Ford, looked unpleasant to say the least. His one eye was nothing more than a glimmering black orb, and, below it, the skin was scarred and rough. Everything about the man immediately put the Major on edge. It was clear that he had the same effect on Doctor Weir, as she looked ill at ease when she noticed his approach.

"...should buy us some time at least."

"Where do you want me?" Ford cut in almost before she had finished speaking.

"Lieutenant, I ..." Before she could speak further, Doctor Beckett hurried in.

"Lieutenant – what do you think you're doing here?" Beckett's tone was a mix of worry and exasperation.

Looking over to the Doctor, Ford nodded, his tone relaxed and unworried. "I'm fine, Doc, really. It's cool."

"The hell you are." The Doc was obviously not buying it. "You should be back in bed."

"I feel great. Just drop it." Aiden told him bluntly then turned his back on him.

"I will not just drop it." Beckett stated, refusing to let the matter rest. "Not twenty minutes ago, you were at death's door. Now I don't care how spry you're feeling – you need to be under medical supervision."

Ford glanced back at him angrily, and then turned his attention back to Doctor Weir. "I'm good to go."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Lieutenant, but Doctor ..."

Aiden didn't let her finish. "I-I'm serious. Just let me prove it. Just give me something to do."

Taking hold of his arm, Beckett attempted to make the young Lieutenant listen. "I don't think so."

With a sudden motion Aiden rounded on Beckett, grabbed him by the throat with one hand and hoisted him into the air, slamming him against the wall angrily. "Don't push me around!"

"Lieutenant!" Telya said sharply. Ford seemed to ignore her, glaring ferociously up at Carson. "Put him down, Aiden – he's trying to help you."

Ford continued to glare at Beckett, his face almost a snarl. Suddenly there was a small electric buzz as the Admiral leveled her sidearm at the young Lieutenant. Lorne immediately followed her lead and drew his own weapon.

"I suggest you do as you've been told, young man, or this will become very unpleasant for you." Takase's voice was cool and calm, but there was an undeniable ribbon of steel beneath her tone. The maser pistol continued to hum softly as Takase maintain a steady bead on Ford's center of mass.

"Aiden" Teyla said again softly as though to calm him down.

Ford continued to hold the Doctor against the wall, before slowly lowered Beckett to the ground, his face screwed up in a silent feral growl. Finally releasing his grip on the throat, Ford suddenly stared in horror at what he has just done, while Beckett gasped for air.

"I'm sorry, Doc" Ford quickly said, the growing magnitude of his confusion and self loathing evident in his expression. "I don't know why I ..."

"You need to be under medical supervision." Beckett croaked out, still massaging his throat.

"He's right, Lieutenant." Doctor Weir said calmly. "We just want to know why you're suddenly feeling this way."

Following Weir's lead, Takase powered down the pistol and lowered the muzzle to point at the floor. Her face was icy and unreadable, as she watched wordlessly.

Ford was still plainly shocked at his actions, and he nodded abashedly. "OK. I'll go back."

"Good. It's what you should do." She smiled encouragingly.

"Yes, ma'am" He sighed uncomfortably. Teyla nodded to him reassuringly then led him away. With a nod to the Admiral and Doctor Weir, Lorne moved to forward Teyla and Ford. As he stepped out of the room, he heard Weir address Doctor Becket.

"I want him transferred to the medical ship, Carson. Sedate him if you have to."

* * *

**Bridge of the **_**Daedalus**_

Colonel Caldwell glanced at the sensor reading as the USAF battle cruiser _Daedalus_ exited hyperspace. No immediate signs of enemy vessels, so it seemed that Doctor McKay had been correct about the Wraith ships needing time between hyperspace jaunts. A few seconds later, the GTA ships assigned to escort her jumped back to normal space as well. Between conversations with their crews, sensor scans and what he could visually see, Steven know that their ships had taken the brunt on the battle damage. They had damaged sub-systems, power fluctuations, atmosphere leaks and even a few visible hull breaches. There had been losses in the way of personnel as well. From what he had been advised, several crew were badly injured, others dead from battle damage and/or missing with a hull section breached. It was a testament to the strength of their design and crews that they had been able to escape the battle alive and functional.

"_Colonel?"_ Novak's voice came on the intercom. _"Hermiod indicates that GTA fleet is not in position about the planet."_

Oh no. He suspected that this might happen. The Admiral probably ordered a withdrawal from the system when she learned that the Wraith fleet had not been destroyed. Frowning deeply to himself, Steven thumbed the intercom receiver. "Scan the system. Let me know if you find any trace of them."

As few tense seconds passed, and then Novak came back on the line. _"Sir, we've detected them in extremely low orbit on the far side of the planet's moon. They appeared to be powered down and running silent. We almost missed them."_

Novak's voice carried a hint of confusion as she continued. _"We've also detect a number of what Hermiod believes to weapons platforms in low orbit about the planet. They are also powered low and made be using some sort of stealth systems."_

So they hadn't been abandoned. Thank God. Caldwell was about to respond when the escort ships broke off and accelerated towards the moon as well. "Colonel, we just picked up a tight band burst transmission from the Fleet. The escort had been ordered to form up with the rest of their ships. We have been invited to join them if we wish." One of the officers manning the communication system advised him.

"Negative. If they are going to do what I suspect they are, we are in no condition to offer much support." Steven's mind raced to consider the options. "We'll join Atlantis on the surface to commence repairs." The officer relayed the message via a likewise burst transmission.

"Helm, take up down to the city." Caldwell ordered calmly. "And request permission to land on the east pier."

As they approached the city, the dome shield flickered briefly to allow them to pass through the barrier, then resumed it default hardened state. Landing lightly on the target landing zone, the crew immediately began post-landing procedures. After giving a few orders regarding those system he wanted prioritized for repair, Steven lead Major Sheppard down and out of the ship. Halfway to the main tower, they were met by Elizabeth.

"Welcome back to Atlantis, Colonel."

"The Wraith are right behind us." John advised Weir to keep her up to speed.

"I wasn't expecting you to land." Elizabeth stated with a hint of surprise. Either she didn't know that _Daedalus_ could be landed, or she had expected them to stay out with the GTA fleet.

"Until repairs are complete, the _Daedalus_ is gonna need Atlantis's shields as much as you do." Caldwell explained solemnly as they headed to the main control room.

Sergeant Bruce's voice cut in over the comms. "Doctor Weir – the hive ships are emerging from hyperspace."

"We're on our way."

* * *

**Atlantis Control Room**

Alarms sounded as the Elizabeth, John, and Colonel Caldwell arrived. Rodney also came hurrying in from other direction.

"They're getting into some sort of formation." Bruce advised, worry evident in his voice.

Rodney hurried over to the power management console. "Move, move!" He shooed away the technician already at the station, who quickly vacated the seat.

A few seconds past as the bombardment began. Thanks to the powerful shield the impacts were almost soundless and translated none of the impact shock inside. Checking the reading for a moment, Rodney looked up to deliver his assessment. "The shield's holding under the bombardment, but it's under incredible strain."

That was one bit of good news but not enough to allow Elizabeth to relax just yet. "How long will it hold?"

"Well, if they stop firing it'll last almost indefinitely but ..."

Elizabeth cut him off, needing a straight answer. "Are we talking months, weeks?"

"Days." Rodney admitted with a very worried look "At this rate the ZedPM will be depleted within days."

"Any sign that they have detected the Mjolnir cannons?"

Rodney moved to another station and keys in a few inputs. "Actually… no." He looked a bit stunned. "Their fire seems to be concentrated on the city itself. The RBCs and sentry guns are being completely ignored for now."

"Alright, contact the Admiral. On her order, we counter-attack." Elizabeth stated firmly. This had to work or they were out of options.

* * *

_**GTCC **__**Justice**_**'s Combat Information Centre**

Standing beside the tactical holographic table, Rear Admiral Takase frowned down at the combat data displayed in the three dimensional field. The Wraith Hive ships and Cruisers were arrayed in a loose circle above the city, their bows all pointing inwards as they bombarded the city shield. It was an unusual way to position ships for a bombardment. While their ships were certainly able to maximize their weapon's damage potential, they lost manoeuvrability against counter attack. It was hard to believe that these Wraith were that overconfident.

"Admiral, Atlantis reports that they stand ready to counter-attack on your order." One of her lieutenants reported.

"Tell them to hold for now." Akane stated, her focus never leaving the tactical display. Reaching out, she drew an invisible box around one of the Wraith Hive ships. Immediately the image field zoomed in on the ship. Frowning further, she shook her head. No Darts flying point defence either. Unless they had something else planned, these Wraith seemed to have almost no understanding of fleet combat. In the earlier engagements, they'd used their superior numbers to press the advantage with little regard for tactical positioning.

"Give me a long range sensor sweep of the system. I want to know if there are any other active ships in this system." The holographic display zoomed out, showing a representation of the entire planetary system. The tightly clustered GTA fleet was displayed in green behind Lantea's moon and the Wraith ships displayed in red above the planet.

"No other ships detected, Admiral." Lt Jenkins advised. "Sensor feeds relayed from the _Newton _indicate that hyperspace vectors for a radius of twenty five light years show clear."

Shaking her head, Akane smiled to herself. These Wraith may have ruled unopposed for too long. Whatever knowledge they had of prudent fleet operations must have been lost or forgotten a long long time ago. Looking across the table, she nodded to her XO. "Please initiate Plan Stiletto. Launch the Stealths."

Captain Harrison grinned wickedly back and nodded. "With pleasure, Admiral." Activating his communicator, he turned to face the fighter command monitor. "This is Command to Nu and Omicron. You are good to go. Go tag us some sitting ducks."

* * *

_**GTCC **__**Justice**_**'s Main Fighter Hangar**

Strapped in the cockpit of his fighter, Lt Colonel Winters quickly finished his pre-flight check, before hand signalling the launch controller that he was ready to go. Facing forward, he waited for the signal light to switch from red to green and then punched his engines to full thrust.

As the Atalanta stealth fighter shot out of the hangar bay, Marc smiled to himself, savouring the differences between this bird and the heavier Heracles fighter he had flown in the earlier mission. Two meters longer than the mighty Herc, the Atalanta had a narrow profile from both the sides and rear due to its arrow head shape. Incredibly fast and nimble, the stealth fighter was extremely difficult to detect and/or target thanks to its top secret composite hull material and unusual baffled engine design.

Marc performed a few rolls and turns as he quickly re-acclimated to the fighter's performance before opening a channel to the rest of his squad. "All right, form up on me. Now we don't know how sensitive the sensors are that the Wraith use, so here's the plan."

"We are going to make for the far side of the moon at high orbit. Before we leave the sensor shadow, we are going to turn around, shunt reserve power in the engine and orbit this rock in a shallow dive at best speed. As we get line of sight on their ships, we'll break orbit and cut our engines to minimum." He explained firmly. "We do this right and we should able to gravity slingshot towards them at high speed with as low an energy profile as possible."

"_Okay, sir, that sounds like the easy part."_ The voice of Andrea Davis, his assigned wing man came on the line. _"But personally I wish we had something a bit meaner than TAG missiles."_

"Come on, Omicron Two. I thought you signed up for flying Atalantas to do both the impossible and the incredibly stupid." Marc chuckled, and he was soon joined by other members of the squadron.

"_Sure sir…. That and the danger pay."_ Davis quipped. _"And speaking of cash, you still owe me fifty credits."_

"I'll settle up with you afterwards… assuming we both live." Marc teased. "Just think of it as one more reason to cover my ass, eh?"

"_Aye sir."_

To Be Continued…


	16. Chapter 16

_**GTCC **__**Justice**_**'s Combat Information Centre**

"The Stealths are away, Admiral. ETA to their targets, six minutes." Colonel Henry Mercer, the commander of _Justice_'s air group advised as he approached the holographic table. "Our remaining fighters and bombers are loaded out and are ready for launch on your command, ma'am."

Giving Mercer a firm nod, Akane smiled slightly. "Thank you, Colonel. Go join your men. We'll have need of you shortly."

Mercer saluted crisply before turning and leaving the command deck. Watching him go, Harrison frowned and snorted. "You know Admiral, I would have felt better if Mercer was leading the Stealths on this run."

"I know, Roland, but I need Henry to coordinate our fighter units if the Stealth strike fails." As he turned back to look at her over the glowing holo-field, she quickly read the unspoken question on Harrison's face. "No, I don't think Winters will fail. I might not be a fan of the Lieutenant Colonel, but I've seen his sealed records."

That solicited a look of surprise from her XO, as well it should. Special Operation Command records were sealed to everyone outside of that organization and Galactic Terran Intelligence. Akane had pulled in a few favours to get a peek at his jacket, but it had been worth it. She didn't like having anyone working under her command who she didn't know.

"What did you see, Akane?" Harrison asked, playing the friendship card by calling her by her first name. Normally not something he would do unless they were having a private conversation.

Akane smirked at the ploy, and decided not to call him on it. "I can't give you details, but I will say that his combat record is impressive. He'll get it done, and he will bring our men back alive."

Harrison grunted softly in acquiescence and turned his attention back to the tactical display. Akane chuckled a bit at her friend's amazing people skills, returning her attention back to the table as well.

* * *

**Atlantis Control Room**

"What are they waiting for, an engraved invitation to attack?" Elizabeth watched Rodney pace the control room and sighed. She understood his feelings but knew better than to openly agree with him. It would only encourage more cranky outbursts.

"Rodney, relax." John advised reassuringly. "The Admiral seems like one sharp lady. I'm sure she knows what she's doing, so have a little faith, okay."

"Relax? We are sitting here going nothing while the Wraith slowly but surely drain the ZedPM, and you're best suggestion is to relax." Rodney stopped to look at them, his expression bordering on hysteria. "And you know that those beam cannons aren't going to be enough. We might get a few shots off before the Wraith find them and blow them out of the sky!"

"And it will have been a few shots we wouldn't have had in the first place, then won't it?" John quipped, his patience with McKay starting to wear thin.

"Yeah, but if she put them down here under the shield, we could have fired repeatedly while the Wraith couldn't touch them."

"I'm afraid that wouldn't have worked, Doctor McKay." Colonel Caldwell put in, his tone sounding a bit vexed with McKay as well, but too professional to resort to quipping like John. "During the first battle, we scanned the energy output of those weapons as we were entering the system. Hermiod says that they are similar in output to Asgard beam weapon technology. Very focused high energy particle weapons, but the down side is range. Beyond a certain range, they lose cohesion and firepower."

"Plus, you are forgetting about atmospheric dispersion." Doctor Zelenka added as well.

"I know, I know." Rodney whined, waving off Zelenka's remarks. "I'm just hungry. You know I suffer from low blood sugar. I don't think as well as I normally do when I start to crash."

"Why don't you go get something to eat then, Rodney?" Elizabeth suggested diplomatically, giving him an out. "We'll call you if something comes up."

"Yeah…" Rodney looked somewhat abashed. "I'll just go…" He pointed in the general direction of the mess hall. When no-one moved to stop him, he headed out.

"Now that that's dealt with..." Caldwell began to say.

"Ma'am," Chuck interjected. "We're reading a group of eight small ships leaving the moon's shadow and heading towards the Wraith fleet."

"Must be fighters or maybe bombers." John speculated, his brow furrowed a little.

"I can't say, Major. The signals are strange. They are definitely something, but their signal is very weak. We are barely reading them."

John and Colonel Caldwell looked at each other with a sudden knowing look. "Stealth attack"

* * *

**On board one of the Wraith Hive Ships**

The Wraith worked tirelessly, maximizing weapons fire on the shielded city of Atlantis, secure in the knowledge that, in time, they would win and finally claim the city and the knowledge kept there for their own.

Standing back from his subordinates, the ship's senior male Wraith looked from station to station, on hand to make needed decisions but not necessarily to do any of the current work. One of the alarms began to sound but then cut off almost as soon as it started.

"What happened?" The senior Wraith enquired to one of the technicians of lower standing.

"Our proximity scanners momentarily detected an object moving towards the ship."

"Why was nothing detected before?" The senior ask incredulously.

"It appears to be a sensor ghost. I have been reading them very intermittently for the last few minutes."

"Could it be a cloaked Lantean gateship?"

"No. Lantean ships are either detected or not detected." The lesser stated definitively. "Even a malfunctioning cloaking field would show up as detectable energy bleed through from the engines. These signals show no signs of guidance. It must be faulty data. I will attempt to bypass the malfunctioning detecting unit."

"Hmmm…" The senior considered the lesser's logic. "Very well. Continue." The senior resumed his observations. After less than a minute, one of the other lesser spoke up.

"Something has struck the hull. Aft section, between the port side Dart portal and the primary engine housing."

"Damage?" The senior asked.

"None detected. Whatever it was, it has partially embedded itself into the hull but not sufficiently to effect surrounding systems."

"Very well."

The first lesser who spoke began hurriedly working his control station. "The object has begun broadcasting encoded data across multiple frequencies with unusually high transmitting power."

"What?" The senior looked shocked and confused.

"I…" The lesser worked frantically. "Though I cannot break the cipher, I suspect that it is transmitting targeting data."

The senior was stunned. What did it mean?

* * *

_**GTCC **__**Justice**_**'s Combat Information Centre**

The holographic displays of the Hive ships began one by one changing; the red shapes suddenly getting streams of targeting data added to them. A second after the last Hive was tagged, the channel opened and Colonel Winters came on the line. "Omicron One to Command. The enemy has been tagged and lit up like a Christmas tree. We are getting out of Dodge!"

"Acknowledged, Omicron. Good work. We'll take it from here." Harrison replied confidently before closing the channel. Turning to the Admiral, he grinned. "Ma'am, the Wraith await the pleasure of our company."

"Well, let's not keep them waiting then." Akane smiled back evilly. Pressing a control of the holo table, she opened a channel to the entire fleet. "This is the Admiral. It's time. All ships charge your forward weapons arrays and lock onto your assigned beacon. Prepare for micro-jump." She closed the channel, walked away from the tactical display, and returned to her command chair. For the hairball that was about to come, there would be no time for strategic manoeuvring. The use of a micro-jump was a dangerous gamble. The fleet had to perform an extremely short, precise hyperspace insertion and open up with withering targeted fire before the Wraith ships could disperse and reposition themselves to fight back. If things went badly, they could find themselves in a knife fight without the option to run as the hyperspace engines would not have recharged sufficiently to escape.

Her crew worked quickly, getting everything to readiness in remarkably short order. Watching from her chair, Akane smiled proudly at how quickly she got the green light from her people. In a little under a minute the rest of the fleet signalled readiness as well. Sitting taller in her chair, her body tensed, her expression a study of fierce determination, Admiral Takase reopened the ship-to-ship channel.

"Do it!"

* * *

**Atlantis Control Room**

The tension in the room had grown in leaps and bounds after the sensors had detected the GTA fighters moving against the Wraith ships. Everyone in the room has watched the sensor display as the fighters neared their targets, expecting explosion or at least detectable weapons fire. What they got was baffling. The fighters veered away after doing a close pass of each of the Hives and then… the high powered targeting signal.

"What just happened?" Elizabeth looked thoroughly confused.

"They painted the targets!" John exclaimed, his serious expression suddenly turning into a grin.

"I don't get it" Elizabeth admitted, not seeing the value of that action. "They are already big targets that we could clearly detect."

"That's not the point. If you want to co-ordinate fire for maximum damage, you need to focus your effort on as small an area as possible." John quickly explained. "This way even the lighter weapons will have deadly effect as all the firepower will tear through an protection the Wraith have like wet toilet paper!"

"Major, take a look at this." Colonel Caldwell indicated to the targeting system the GTA had installed in the control room. The Mjolnir RBCs were already adjusting themselves to face the nearest painted ship. "I'm guessing all we have to do is push the firing button."

"Not yet, Colonel." Elizabeth warned carefully. "She hadn't given us the signal yet."

"Um, ma'am" Bruce interjected. "The GTA fleet has begun to power up." He indicated to what the powerful Ancient sensors were detecting.

"What are they going to do? Coming around the moon shooting?" Caldwell looked unimpressed. "Even if they could hit them at that range with their other weaponry, by the time they got into range to fire their beams the Wraith will have repositioned to return fire. It will be an ugly slug-fest."

"I don't think so, Colonel." Zelenka said suddenly. "I'm detecting their hyperdrives cycling up."

Colonel Caldwell and Major Sheppard looked at each other in disbelief. "They won't…"

Suddenly the majority of GTA fleet disappeared from behind the moon, and after a second later, reappeared just within beam cannon range of Wraith fleet. Almost immediately after returning to normal space, they began firing. The city's sensor picked up the high energy discharges followed by explosions on the Wraith Hives. The communication channel beeped open and they could hear Akane's voice. _"Now, Atlantis!"_

Reaching over, John quickly typed in the short activation sequence for the Mjolnir cannons. A few seconds after being activated, they, too, joined in on firing on the Wraith. Wincing at the vicious effect of precision coordinated fire, John shook his head. "I almost feel sorry for them…"

Elizabeth raised a brow and smirked. "Really?"

"Well, no…" John shrugged and smiled. "I did say almost."

* * *

**In orbit about Atlantis**

Almost immediately after the GTA fleet had opened fire on the Wraith ships, they began to launch fighters and bombers. Due to the positions of the initial blasts, most of the Wraith's Dart bays were crippled and unable to launch defenders. Those few that did get airborne were quickly cut to ribbons by incoming Perseus interceptors. This left the Hydra heavy and Basilisk assault bombers with basically free reign to perform bombing runs against Hives and Cruisers with impunity.

Having forgone the normal fighter screen of Cadmus superiority fighters, those pilots were reassigned to destroying weapons emplacements and communication subsystems using Heracles fighters and Manticore strike bombers.

The Wraith tried in vain to flee the melee so that they could escape to hyperspace, but when they attempted to run, the GTA strike craft quick re-prioritized their attacks to hyperdrives and sub-light engines.

The brutal battle lasted just under five minutes, and, in the end, the Wraith fleet was little more than floating wreckage. On the GTA side, the damage and losses were thankfully light. It appeared that the Wraith were so sure of their dominance of the galaxy that they couldn't recover from a well planned ambush.

* * *

**Atlantis Control Room**

The urge of cheer as each Hive Ship was destroyed was difficult to contain as John watched ship after enemy ship wink off the sensor display. It was his previous battle experiences that cautioned him into not reading too much in this victory. There were still a lot of Wraith out there, and the war was far from won. Still, this had been a good thing. John no longer felt that their situation was hopeless. They now had a fighting chance, and that was something to smile about.

"The last Wraith vessel has been destroyed." Bruce announced proudly. "No further enemy contacts on sensors."

"Thank God." Elizabeth exhaled a sigh of relief. "Let's hope that this was enough to discourage them for a while."

"I wish that were so, Doctor Weir," Colonel Cadwell said reluctantly. "But from what we've seen of the Wraith so far, I doubt this set back will stall their next attack for long."

"I don't know about that Colonel." John interjected. "While we don't know much about the Wraith command hierarchy, we do know that they got woken up earlier. They may not be ready for war."

Cadwell raised a brow and looked unconvinced at John's train of thought. "They seemed willing to mobilize a lot of forces in very short period of time."

"Actually, Colonel, I think that John may be onto something." Elizabeth stated. "We've been on Atlantis for a while, and only now did the Wraith attack. Even if their ships are slow. It seems odd that they would take so long to attack."

"You think that the Wraith needed time to coordinate and gather their fleets…" Cadwell asked carefully.

"And they only when they thought they'd have a slam dunk victory. The loss of sixteen Hives and a whole lot of cruisers has to give them pause." John explained confidently. "If it took months to organize these Hives for a cake walk mission, how much longer will it take them to authorize more ships against an enemy that has proven to be capable of matching them?"

"The real question is, how badly did we hurt them?" Cadwell put out there. "Did we do enough to scare them or did we just make them madder?"

"Well, if the data we acquired is accurate, the Wraith had approximately sixty active Hives before the attack started. The loss of sixteen vessels would account for a twenty six percent loss of forces." Doctor Zelenka offered.

"A twenty six percent causality rate is high, but some commands would consider that to be acceptable losses." Cadwell stated unhappily. "From what we've seen of their tactics, they don't seem to value the lives of the soldiers much."

"Ultimately, all we can do is wait and see what happens." Elizabeth advised coolly. "We'll do what we can to be ready should they attack again, but we will continue on with our mission."

John smiled proudly at Elizabeth's determined spirit and nodded. "Yes, ma'am"

To Be Continued…


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Onboard the **_**GTMF Addison - **_**Recovery Ward**

The air was cool and sterile smelling to his nose as Lieutenant Aiden Ford slowly awoke. Opening his eyes carefully, he saw that he was no longer in the Atlantis medic area. In fact it didn't look like any part of Atlantis he had ever seen. The walls were a soft eggshell white colour and seemed to have a fabric-like texture to them. The dim lighting had a bit of a blue tint to it, giving the impression of being underwater. Aiden slowly turned his head to the side, his muscles working sluggishly. To his right were a number of beds, some occupied and some not. The beds were oddly shaped, like a sideways egg that had been cut down the middle lengthwise. The lower half of the egg shape merged seamlessly with a curved bracket which attached to the wall. Above each bed he saw a monitor and what he guessed was a scanning device. Some of the scanning devices projected a faint shimmering blue light onto those people who lay in the beds below them.

Turning back to look up, he could see that the scanner above his bed also projected the shimmering blue onto him. Aiden tried to sit up but couldn't. His muscles worked, albeit slowly, but all the effort he put toward rising had little effect. It seemed like the mattress became softer wherever he tried to push up, like an old style waterbed from hell. Strangely enough, the bed was firm enough to properly support his body, except for refusing to let him up. He didn't feel sore or uncomfortable, just trapped.

"Hello?" Aiden called out, looking for someone to free him or at least give him answers. "Somebody? Hello? Is anyone there."

Not even a minute later, someone stepped up to the bed. "Take it easy Lieutenant. You're okay." It was a handsome older woman in what Aiden guessed was her fifties. She looked to be a Slavic decent, and wore a futuristic twist on a lab coat. "Now I'm going to going to deactivate the restraining field so you can sit up, but if you start to act up on me, I'll turn it back on. Understood?" The woman reminded Aiden of his grade four teacher, Mrs Hooper. She didn't put up with any guff, and he suspected that this woman wouldn't either.

"Yes, ma'am." He nodded slowly and watched as she touched something on the scanner device. The shimmering light faded away and the bed firmed below him. Touching another control, the top of the bed rose up smoothly, shifting Aiden into a comfortable seated position. "Thank you. Who are you, and where am I?"

"I'm Doctor Prystay, and you are aboard the _Galactic Terran Medical Frigate Gray_. Your Doctor Beckett asked that we assist him with your treatment. How do you feel, Lt Ford?" The Doctor looked down at him with an assessing look, like he was a curious bug on a Petri-dish.

"I'm…" Aiden had to think about it for a moment. He felt fine, but then he had felt fine earlier was well. No… earlier he had felt great, powerful and super-charged. Now… he felt dull. "… okay I guess. What happened?"

"You were exposed to a mega dose of a rather nasty Wraith enzyme which sent your system into haywire. We are able to slowly neutralize the effects it was having on your neurochemistry by using a series of chemical blocking agents and endocrinogical suppressants. You'll likely feel off for the next few days. We'll trim back your medications as your system fully normalizes."

"So how long will I be here, Doc?" Aiden asked cautiously. He knew that he was here with no place to run due to his earlier actions. Doctor Weir didn't trust him, and he worried that she was right not to.

"A week, maybe two." Prystay shrugged a bit then tapped the controls on the scanner arm. "Your readings are showing improvement so the treatments are having the desired effect. I don't foresee any complications at that point, but we do have to work slowly. Doctor Beckett wants you back in top form, and I aim to do just that." She smiled confidently and nodded to herself.

"And what do I do in the meantime? I don't suppose you have any magazines to read or have TSN?"

"TSN?" She raised a greying eyebrow in confusion.

"The Sports Network... television." Aiden explained quickly.

"Ahhh... yes. Well we don't access to the live feeds but we do keep an archive of historical files for patient entertainment. I suppose I'll have to limit your access to materials relative to your own century. We can't have you disrupting history by a winning streak of wagers." She smiled teasingly and activated a small holographic projection.

"Cool!"

* * *

**Wraith Homeworld**

It had been centuries since the last meeting. The ancient chamber lay deep underground where it was safe from bombardment by both Lantean vessel and rogue Hive. Here the conclave of Queens met to discuss the state of affairs in the Pegasus galaxy. Such a meeting was extremely rare as there was almost never a time when matters required all Wraith to co-operate and work as one. There was simply too much distrust and squabbling over territory to make such gatherings a common practice.

But now their plans were threatened. Not only had Atlantis arisen, but it was seemingly occupied by those descend from Lantean stock. People who carried the most annoying Lantean gene. Still these people hailed from a galaxy teaming with life. A vast new feeding ground that might take centuries to cull. A mighty expedition had been sent to capture Atlantis and wipe out those who now claimed it. It should have been a simple easy task, and, once done, the technology of the Lanteans would allow them to easily reach their new feeding ground. It should have been simple...

But like the Lateans before, these fools resisted and not just fought back but managed to destroy the expedition group. A second larger group had been sent, but it too was destroyed. They had not suffered such losses in ten thousand years.

Some counselled sending yet more, for eventually the city would fall. But after how long and how many ships would be lost in the process? What if these newcomers were not like the Lanteans? What if they won't simply wait to be attacked? What if more ships, more fleets arrived, and they decided to hunt down the remaining Hives directly?

No... Attacking directly was foolish. The new enemy was too powerful. The feeding herds far too thin to support a war. No. The numbers must be bolstered. More ships grown. There would be the need for power modules. Yes. They would once again be found. Yes, it was decided.

Atlantis would be dealt with later... When the time was right.

* * *

_"As so, once again, hope had risen in the galaxy. Not since the time of the Ancients had the Wraith been challenged and bested. For the first time in many thousands of years, they knew fear and they found it to be bitter tasting indeed. On Atlantis, courage and good fortune had won the day, and a mighty alliance began to be forged. But as any good smith knows, it takes more than one strike of the hammer to turn raw iron into fine steel…"_

**Here ends Crossed Paths: Episode One**

**Up Next – **

**Crossed Paths: Episode Two "Settling In"**


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